‘Most stringent’ CPD requirements a boost to adviser professionalism: Kaplan

The move to “embrace professionalism” among financial advisers is helping not just established advisers, said education provider Kaplan chief executive Brian Knight, but also instilling the “pursuit of knowledge” as a core tenet for new entrants.

According to Knight, advisers should be commended for their commitment to uplifting their education with continuing professional development (CPD) that goes beyond the bare minimum.

Arguing that the CPD requirements that financial advisers face are among the “toughest and most stringent” of any profession in Australia, he said the “high levels of education and experience, combined with the rigorous requirements for qualifying CPD, gives the industry the right to earn the respect they deserve as a profession”.

On the back of advisers needing to hit 40 hours of CPD across a range of technical areas, Knight said enrolment numbers for Kaplan courses have reached record numbers through 2025 so far.

“As licensees are responsible for ensuring they have a CPD policy and a professional development plan to address each adviser’s specific education requirements, as well as approving 70 per cent of their advisers’ CPD activity as being appropriate qualifying CPD, they have played a key role in encouraging a culture that supports and provides CPD opportunities for their advisers that is at a level that genuinely improves their professional capabilities,” he said.

“There is a clear trend, advisers are wanting to utilise CPD to extend their competence, knowledge and skills in emerging, niche and specialist areas such as ethical investments, ETFs, insurance and SMSFs as part of their individual professional development plan.

“We have had to respond accordingly as an educator to meet the challenge of delivering large volumes of high-quality, engaging and digitalised CPD content, which meets educational requirements in each of the technical areas in a variety of multimedia formats – not just professional or technical reading, which is limited to four hours per year.”

The CEO added that this has also pushed education providers to go further in creating courses that deliver greater value for advisers, who are seeking to “expand and grow their knowledge”, not just maintain their current level.

“Being a professional means constantly growing your knowledge – the advice industry has worked hard to move away from a ‘tick-box culture’ … for the new advisers coming through, the pursuit of knowledge is part of their DNA and the Ontrack content constantly strives to satisfy this appetite for knowledge,” Knight said.