Financial advisers are required to complete 35 hours of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) every year, but does logging training hours really prove competence?
According to David Tait, Founder & Managing Director at Redmill Advance, firms risk reducing CPD to a compliance exercise if they focus solely on recording learning activity rather than assessing how effectively advisers apply their knowledge in real client situations.
As financial services firms continue to embed Consumer Duty requirements and demonstrate good client outcomes, Tait argues that organisations should place greater emphasis on evidencing practical competence, professional judgement and the real-world impact of learning.
Logged hours and the limits of activity-based CPD
With firms under increasing pressure to evidence good outcomes for clients, logged CPD hours alone rarely tell the full competence story.
As firms continue to embed the FCA’s Consumer Duty requirements, greater attention is being paid to how adviser competence is assessed and evidenced. Whilst Continuing Professional Development (CPD) remains a core part of professional standards within financial services, recording 35 hours of annual learning activity may not effectively demonstrate an adviser’s ability to consistently apply knowledge and judgement reflecting clients’ best interests.
Against this backdrop, financial services learning specialist Redmill Advance is urging firms to move beyond a compliance-led approach to CPD and place greater emphasis on evidencing real-world competence.
David Tait, Founder and Managing Director of Redmill Advance, believes the industry’s long-standing emphasis on logged learning hours risks turning CPD into a tick-box exercise that does little to show whether advisers can effectively apply their knowledge in practice.
“Too often, CPD devolves into an end-of-year rush as Statement of Professional Standing (SPS) renewal dates approach. Advisers find themselves completing webinars and online learning just to hit their required 35 hours.
“While this may satisfy a regulatory requirement, genuine competence is only demonstrated when advisers can apply knowledge, judgement and behavioural skills to deliver better client outcomes.”
Why complex advice areas raise the stakes
Tait argues that this distinction is particularly important in complex advice areas such as retirement planning, investments and taxation, where technical expertise must be combined with professional judgement to meet individual client needs.
“Completing a webinar on complex pension planning does not automatically make someone competent to advise in that area. Competence is built through a broader journey comprising qualifications, ongoing learning, supervision, practical experience and applying knowledge in real client situations.”
From recording activity to measuring impact
Rather than measuring activity alone, Tait believes firms should place greater emphasis on understanding the impact learning has on adviser performance and client outcomes.
“Logging CPD hours may show that learning has taken place, but it does not answer the questions that really matter: what changed as a result, how has it improved client outcomes, and can the adviser demonstrate how that knowledge in practice?
“Hours show activity. True competence is evidenced through application, reflection and results.”
Shared responsibility between advisers and employers
Tait additionally believes responsibility for driving this shift sits with both advisers and employers.
“For advisers, annual SPS renewal should represent a commitment to ongoing professional development, while firms should ensure CPD forms part of a wider development strategy rather than being treated as a standalone compliance exercise.”
“Forward-thinking firms focus on capability rather than simply recording activity. They structure CPD throughout the year, establish clear learning objectives, encourage reflective practice and make development a regular staple of Training and Competence discussions.
“When learning is embedded into day-to-day roles and linked directly to adviser development, firms gain a much clearer picture of where people are progressing and where additional support may be required.”
Tait concludes, “The true value of CPD lies in how those 35 hours of learning translate into adviser growth and improved client outcomes.
“When firms and advisers focus on learning outcomes rather than learning activity alone, CPD becomes a driver of professional confidence, stronger client relationships and greater trust. In a profession built on trust, that distinction matters.”
About Redmill Advance
Redmill Advance provides a learning platform built specifically for UK financial advice and wealth management companies. A scenario-based competency assessment tool, a trainable AI tutor and a training needs analysis (TNA) tool work hand in hand with sector-specific content and competency frameworks designed by sector experts. Together, these enable managers to assess, develop and evidence competence by role, and to manage CPD and compliance end to end.
Redmill Advance also delivers live training programmes, online or in person, covering technical financial advice and compliance knowledge and CII, CISI and LIBF exam preparation, alongside business, leadership and soft skills. Redmill Advance serves more than 100 UK financial advice and wealth management firms and is part of the Kinrock group. Learn more at redmilladvance.com, or about the wider group at kinrock.com.
