Elements of Financial Planning and Regulation
Unit Code:FIN60010
Contact Hours:Recommended 12 hours of study per week
Description:
About this unit
This unit provides an insight to the elements of the financial planning profession. Students will learn about the necessary acumen of analysing economic factors and their impact on individuals’ financial plans. This unit also examines the regulatory environment and contemporary issues within the financial planning industry and underpinning elements of an adviser’s professional capacity and conduct. Financial planning strategies, processes and related due diligence will be investigated in this unit. Additionally, students will be introduced to financial planning technologies and ethical principles.
Content
- Economic environment
- Overview of financial planning industry
- Financial advice regulatory and legal obligation
- Financial advice process
- Scopes and strategies to generate advice
- Construction and presentation of strategic Statement of Advice
- Use of technology in Financial Planning
- Client engagement and necessary elements for a contemporary professional
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Behavioural Finance and Investment
Unit Code:FIN60011
Contact Hours:Recommended 12 hours of study per week
Description:
About this unit
This unit provides students with knowledge of the financial system, various regulatory bodies, key participants and potential risks in the financial markets. This unit focuses on the understanding and the application of the modern finance theories including various asset pricing models, modern portfolio theory, market efficiency and behavioural finance, and how these theories influence investment planning strategies. Students will learn to construct and defend a multi-asset portfolio that satisfies client’s objectives and constraints based on their financial literary and behavioural biases. Students will apply investment and behavioural finance knowledge to generate financial planning strategies using advice technologies.
Content
- Financial systems and regulatory bodies
- Investment markets
- Equity markets
- Debt markets
- Market efficiency
- Portfolio theory and construction
- Portfolio risk management
- Managed funds
- Regulation of markets
- Investment structures and products
- Financial technologies
- Behavioural finance
- Client Behaviour
- Consumer engagement
- Client decision making
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Corporations and Contract Law
Unit Code:LAW60003
Contact Hours:Recommended 10 hours of study per week
Description:
About this unit
The general aim of this core unit is to enable students to gain an understanding of the law applicable to contracts and companies that are employed in the modern business environment. In particular the primary focus is on the contracting activities and its repercussions relating to businesses and entrepreneurial activities. The operations of the Corporations Act2001 (Cth) which regulate the activities of companies, company officers and shareholders also take significance in this unit.
Content
- Topic 1: The Australian Legal System, Formation of Contract
- Topic 2: Terms of Contract
- Topic 3: Validity of Contract
- Topic 4: Termination of a Contract and Remedies
- Topic 5: Characteristics of a Company & its Constitution
- Topic 6: Company’s Relations with Outsiders including Company Contracts
- Topic 7: Directors’ Duties
- Topic 8: Members’ Remedies and Company Insolvent Trading
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Ethics and Client Management
Unit Code:FIN60012
Contact Hours:Recommended 12-15 hours of study per week
Description:
About this unit
This unit prepares students to engage advanced critical and reflective skills in analysing the ethical principles and standards of professional practice in financial services, and to understand (and effectively apply) the legal compliance requirements of the financial adviser profession. Students learn to identify complex ethical issues and propose sound solutions; effectively apply resources available in support institutions; and use creative skills to improve the ethics regime of the profession.
Client management concepts and principles are practised in the context of: enhancing communication, conflict resolution and trust building skills; developing ethical and legally compliant solutions to systemic problems; and applying recent theoretical developments in social psychology and behavioural finance to foster ethical cultures.
Content
- Applications of the FPA Code of Professional Practice
- Recent developments in the institutionalised ethics regime of the financial planning services industry
- Complex ethical issues and dilemmas in financial planning services
- Conflicts of interest: understanding and managing systemic sources
- Advanced applications of professional conduct: applying integrity, resisting power pressure and giving voice to values
- Advanced management of client relationships
- Advanced communication and interpersonal skills
- Behavioural finance: managing cognitive bias and improving heuristics
- Advanced ethical reasoning and social intuitionist approaches to decision making
- Advanced conflict management skills: building empathy and trust
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Insurance and Estate Planning
Unit Code:FIN80022
Contact Hours:Recommended 8 hours of study per week
Description:
About this unit
The scope of the insurance industry is broad, which is why there is a need for financial planners who are able to interpret this complexity, personalising their advice for the benefit of each individual client. This unit prepares students to critically analyse various insurance products and relevant regulations while managing insurance-related risks for clients. The administration and management of estates is also a focus, students learning about the fundamental processes involved in estate planning, and how to construct a Statement of Advice.
Content
- Life and general insurance products
- Insurance strategies
- Insurance planning
- Estate planning
- Wealth creation
- Asset protection
- Statement of Advice
- Financial advice technologies
- Proficient and professional communication
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Superannuation and Retirement Planning
Unit Code:FIN80023
Contact Hours:Recommended 8 hours of theory study per week plus 20 days of placement
Description:
Unit code: FIN80023
Duration: 1 Teaching Period
Contact hours: Recommended 8 hours of study per week
About this unit
This unit will help students develop a comprehensive understanding of the superannuation system, including the benefits of retirement planning and the government incentives in place to encourage people to invest in superannuation. Students will investigate the pre and post-retirement savings regulatory environment as a means to meet the diverse needs of individual clients. Students will consider superannuation within a financial planning context, with the aim being to recommend superannuation strategies and products that work according to the client’s unique objectives and constraints.
Content
- Superannuation benefits
- Taxation systems
- Retirement saving strategies
- Capital adequacy
- Government incentives
- Statement of Advice
- Financial advice technology
- Proficient and professional communication
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Taxation Principles and Planning
Unit Code:ACC80012
Contact Hours:Recommended 10 hours of study per week
Description:
About this unit
This unit aims to foster an understanding of the policy, principles and practice that underpin the Australian taxation system. The main emphasis is on taxation principles associated with the Income Tax Assessment Act, 1936 and 1997 as amended, together with those acts which are complementary to the Assessment Act. The unit provides students with the skills and expertise to tread more confidently through the tax law maze and enhance student’s ability to identify and evaluate taxation issues and tax planning opportunities.
Content
Students who successfully complete this unit will be able to:
- Critically evaluate the various principles of taxation based on the taxation legislation and decisions from case law in Australia
- Apply advanced knowledge of the principles that distinguish between the concepts of income, capital and gifts and incorporate these into a tax planning environment
- Critically analyse the complexities of taxation principles in relation to various taxable entities and analyse and critically address the key issues related to tax planning opportunities
- Apply knowledge of research principles to communicate the importance and significance of current and landmark taxation decisions issued by the courts and Administrative Appeals Tribunal.
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Financial Advice Technology Project
Unit Code:FIN80025
Contact Hours:Recommended 8 hours of study per week
Description:
About this unit
This unit encourages students to explore the intersection between financial planning professional practice and the specialised technology that supports the industry. Students will use various financial planning technologies to develop strategies and formulate comprehensive Statements of Advice. Fundamental financial planning methodologies will be essential as students undertake research projects that reflect real-world practice, and require the successful integration of financial planning knowledge and technology.
Content
- Fundamental financial planning concepts and key techniques
- Specialist financial planning knowledge
- Preparing a Statement of Advice
- Financial planning technology and products
- Research methodologies
- Professional communication
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