Qualification details
Title
New Zealand Diploma in Financial Services (Level 6) with strands in Banking,
Financial Advice, Insurance, Investment
Version
1
Qualification type
Diploma
Level
6
Credits
120
NZSCED
081101
Management and Commerce > Banking, Finance and Related
Fields > Banking and Finance
DAS
classification
442
Service Sector > Financial Services
Qualification developer
The Skills Organisation
Next review
December 2019
Approval date
June 2015
Strategic purpose statement
The purpose of this qualification is to provide the financial services
industry with individuals who have specialist technical knowledge
and skills in insurance, banking, investment, or financial advice
contexts.
This qualification is suitable for individuals with financial services
experience or qualifications who wish to gain recognition or enhance
employment opportunities in specialist technical roles in the financial
service industry.
Graduates will be capable of carrying out specialist technical roles
in: Insurance; Banking; Investment; Financial Advice.
Outcome Statement
Graduate profile
Qualification Reference 2650
© New Zealand Qualifications Authority 2015
Graduates of this qualification will be able to:
–
Critically evaluate and interpret fiduciary implications,
responsibilities, professional codes of practice, legislation,
regulations, and global trends, in a financial services context.
–
Analyse the impact of changes and events on participants and
on the interdependencies in global financial markets.
–
Evaluate client risk exposure and risk management strategies in
a specialised financial services context, to develop appropriate
advice or solutions.
–
Analyse, evaluate, and manage solutions within a specialised
financial services context to provide appropriate responses to
identified needs.
Banking strand graduates will also be able to:
–
Apply knowledge of technical aspects of complex lending,
international banking, or institutional banking, to provide
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solutions to identified needs.
–
Evaluate the implications of contemporary legal issues, any
other issues, and industry trends in a specialist banking context
to determine the potential impact on service delivery and/or
solutions.
Financial Advice strand graduates will also be able to:
–
Produce a comprehensive financial plan and a limited
personalised advice plan to document client advice in a form
that meets best practice expectations.
–
Evaluate the implications of contemporary legal issues and
industry trends in a financial advice context to determine the
potential impact on service delivery and/or solutions.
Insurance strand graduates will also be able to:
–
Apply knowledge of technical aspects of insurance contracts in
a specialised context.
–
Evaluate the implications of contemporary legal issues and
industry trends within a specialised insurance context to
determine the potential impact on service delivery and/or
solutions.
–
Analyse needs and risks, and apply detailed knowledge of
available products and solutions to make specific
recommendations in complex and non-standard situations.
Investment strand graduates will also be able to:
Education pathway
–
Analyse financial and non-financial assets, portfolios, financial
markets, and global trends within a specialised investment
context, to provide specialised solutions to identified needs.
–
Evaluate the implications of contemporary legal issues and
industry trends within a specialised an investment context to
determine the potential impact on service delivery and/or
suitable options.
This qualification pathways from the New Zealand Certificate in
Financial Services (Level 5) [Ref: 2315]; however that qualification is
not a prerequisite for this qualification.
Graduates of this qualification may pathway into Diploma, Graduate
Diploma, Bachelor, or similar qualifications in a range of disciplines,
in the financial services sector.
Employment pathway
Subject to the attainment of any relevant legislative accreditations,
regulatory licensing requirements, or workplace expectations
graduates may be able to work in roles such as:
All Strands:
product manager, business development manager.
Banking strand:
private banker, complex and SME lender, credit manager,
Qualification Reference 2650
© New Zealand Qualifications Authority 2015
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institutional and international banker.
Financial advice strand:
senior/ specialist financial adviser, senior paraplanner, manager –
paraplanning, financial planner, investment planner.
Insurance strand:
underwriter, broker, senior broker, specialist risk adviser, claims
manager, insurance portfolio manager.
Investment strand:
discretionary investment manager, investment adviser, fund
manager, share broker, securities and portfolio analyst, private
banker, paraplanner.
Qualification specifications
Qualification award
The qualification will be awarded by the accredited Tertiary
Education Organisation (TEO) approved to deliver the
programme leading to the qualification, ITOs that arrange
training leading to the qualification and education providers
accredited to deliver programmes leading to the qualification
The formal document certifying the award of this qualification
will include the full qualification title, NZQF reference number,
the date of issue and/or award, and the logos of the
qualification developer - The Skills Organisation, the accredited
TEO, and the NZQF.
As the qualification developer, The Skills Organisation will
maintain a list of graduates of this qualification. The TEO will
annually report the names of all graduates awarded the
qualification to The Skills Organisation.
Evidence requirements for
assuring consistency
Qualification Reference 2650
© New Zealand Qualifications Authority 2015
All Tertiary Education Organisations (TEOs) offering this
qualification (either arranging training or delivering
programmes) must participate in the Consistency Review.
TEOs are to seek feedback from the financial services industry
regarding their graduates meeting the qualification graduate
profile outcomes.
Evidence may come from:
- Regular monitoring of trainee progression within either the
TEO or the workplace including liaising with employers,
teaching staff, training supervisors, and industry managers
about the value of the training, graduates, and qualification,
to the business.
- Feedback from major employers, employers' associations,
and relevant industry bodies to ensure their members
involved in the financial services industry are satisfied with
the qualification graduates.
- Regular cross-industry meetings (Industry Advisory
Groups) where the changing training needs of the industry
can be discussed in light of technology changes, workplace
practices, and graduate capabilities.
- Independent surveys of graduates and employers to
determine if the graduates are appropriate for the
workplace.
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-
Providing an alignment matrix of programme outcomes or
unit standards against the qualification outcomes.
The evidence should be collated in to a high level report using
the consistency template that answers the key evaluation
question and is presented at the consistency event to show
how the graduates meet the graduate profile.
Guidelines for managing consistency are available and should
be referred to on the NZQA website.
Credit transfer and recognition of
prior learning arrangements
TEOs delivering programmes that lead to award of this
qualification may transfer credit and recognise prior learning in
accordance with their own credit recognition policies and
procedures.
These policies and procedures, and information about
associated fees, must be available to the applicant prior to
enrolment.
To facilitate credit transfer, education organisations must clearly
demonstrate the equivalency or comparability between each of
the outcomes in the graduate profile, and the assessment
components of their programmes.
Credit transfer will be automatic where standards on the
Directory of Assessment Standards are used in programmes of
study or training leading to this qualification.
Minimum standard of
achievement and standards for
grade endorsements
The minimum standard of achievement required for the award
of the qualification will be achievement of all graduate
outcomes in the graduate profile for the core and all the
outcomes in at least one strand.
Entry requirements (including
prerequisites to meet regulatory
body or legislative requirements)
Candidates entering this qualification should have competency
and understanding at or above the level of the New Zealand
Certificate in Financial Services (Level 5) [Ref: 2315].
This competency and understanding may be derived from
employment or experience in relevant industry roles.
Qualification conditions
Overarching conditions relating to the qualification
Conditions for programme
structure
Not applicable
Conditions for programme
context
To meet the graduate profile, candidates should have
contemporary experience in a relevant financial services
workplace.
Other conditions
Tertiary Education Organisations (TEOs) offering programmes
leading to this qualification must maintain currency with
amendments to, and replacements of, relevant legislation,
regulations, government department guidelines, and
Australian/New Zealand/International Standards.
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© New Zealand Qualifications Authority 2015
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Definitions
Fiduciary responsibilities – includes both legal and ethical
aspects of identified responsibilities.
Bank, banking and derivatives of those terms – the range of
organisations and institutions that provide similar services and
products, including registered banks and non-bank lenders and
deposit takers such as credit unions, finance companies,
building societies and other providers of similar services.
SME – Small and Medium Enterprises
New loan context – application, assessment, and approval of
new residential property loans.
Existing loan context – management, reassessment, collections
and recoveries of residential property loans already made.
Component areas – in the context of comprehensive financial
advice – cash and cash flow/budgeting management, debt and
lending, insurance planning and risk management, retirement
planning, investments, estate planning, taxation.
Qualification outcomes
Conditions
1
Critically evaluate and
interpret fiduciary implications,
responsibilities, professional
codes of practice, legislation,
regulations, and global trends,
in a financial services context.
Programme and assessment will include the
following knowledge and skills:
–
implications for stakeholders of relevant
legislation, regulations, guidance and
practice notes, and codes of conduct and
practice.
Credits 30
–
distinctions between procedural and
behavioural compliance and developing
appropriate responses to identified
obligations.
–
global trends and evaluation of their effects
in a particular specialised financial services
context.
–
implications of fiduciary responsibilities and
the formulation of responses in managing the
needs and expectations of stakeholders.
2
Analyse the impact of changes
and events on participants and
on the interdependencies in
global financial markets.
Programme and assessment will include the
following:
–
identification of the participants in financial
markets and analysis of their
interdependencies in a specialised financial
services context.
–
identification of global financial markets and
analysis of two market interdependencies
that are relevant to a specific financial
services context.
–
changes and events that impact global
financial markets and analysis of those
Credits 10
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© New Zealand Qualifications Authority 2015
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Mandatory
or
Optional
Mandatory
Mandatory
Page 5 of 8
impacts on interdependent market
participants and global financial markets.
3
Evaluate client risk exposure
and risk management
strategies in a specialised
financial services context, to
develop appropriate advice or
solutions.
Programme and assessment will include the
following:
–
client risk exposure and attitude to risk.
–
at least two possible risk management
strategies, including consequences of at
least two possible changes, to manage risk
exposure in client tolerance for risk.
–
changes may be client specific such as
personal tax or ownership considerations or
wider factors such as market, product, or
regulatory changes.
Credits 10
4
Analyse, evaluate, and
manage solutions within a
specialised financial services
context to provide appropriate
responses to identified needs.
Credits 30
5
Programme and assessment will include the
following knowledge and skills:
–
two problems or opportunities that require a
solution.
–
two potential solutions for each problem or
opportunity, selection of one for
implementation, and providing a rationale.
–
Implementation and review of any one
solution.
Banking strand graduates will
be able to:
Programme and assessment will include one of
the contexts below:
Apply knowledge of technical
aspects of complex lending,
international banking, or
institutional banking, to
provide solutions to identified
needs.
Complex Lending
Credits 35
–
key lending concepts applicable to SME and
complex personal residential property loan
situations in both new loan and existing loan
contexts.
–
processes applicable to SME and complex
personal residential property loan situations
in both new loan and existing loan contexts.
–
appropriate responses to specialist
considerations of particular, unique, loan
situations in both new loan and existing loan
contexts.
–
impacts of legislation for clients and the
lender.
Mandatory
Mandatory
Mandatory
or
International Banking
Qualification Reference 2650
© New Zealand Qualifications Authority 2015
–
standard foreign exchange solutions to meet
the needs of personal and SME clients.
–
purpose and processes of international
banking.
–
use of standard international banking
products and services.
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–
risks for the bank of being involved in
international banking.
or
Institutional Banking
6
Evaluate the implications of
contemporary legal issues,
any other issues, and industry
trends in a specialist banking
context to determine the
potential impact on service
delivery and/or solutions.
–
how institutional clients differ in their needs
and operations from personal and SME
clients.
–
standard institutional products and services
to meet the needs of institutional banking
clients, including bank use of derivatives.
–
risks for the bank of being involved in
institutional banking.
Programme and assessment will include:
–
events and consequences of decisions on an
individual or a business.
–
consequences of non-compliance with legal
requirements and industry best practice.
–
responses to contemporary legal issues and
industry trends.
Credits 5
7
Financial Advice strand
graduates will be able to:
Produce a comprehensive
financial plan and a limited
personalised advice plan to
document client advice in a
form that meets best practice
expectations.
Programme and assessment will include:
–
application of the 6 step financial planning
process to client interactions.
–
processes to determine and articulate the
purpose, objective, and scope or limitations
of the plan.
–
mathematical and other techniques used to
quantify relevant aspects of the plan.
–
techniques to appraise advice documents to
test for relevancy and clarity of content.
–
techniques to communicate and achieve
client understanding and acceptance of
recommendations.
–
analysing client risk appetite or tolerance.
–
the application of appropriate levels of
expertise in all component areas to provide
competent advice, or referral, that is
personalised to the client situation and
objectives.
Credits 35
8
Evaluate the implications of
contemporary legal issues and
industry trends in a financial
advice context to determine
the potential impact on service
delivery and/or solutions.
Programme and assessment will include:
–
ethics in the context of providing personal
financial planning advice.
–
embedding processes to address relevant
issues.
Mandatory
Mandatory
Mandatory
Credits 5
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9
Insurance strand graduates
will be able to:
Apply knowledge of technical
aspects of insurance contracts
in a specialised context.
Programme and assessment will include:
–
key pricing levers and their impact on
product pricing. Levers may be technical or
commercial.
–
implications of policy structure, wordings,
and definitions, and implications of any
changes to policy structure, wordings, and
definitions.
–
role of reinsurance and the impact of a
change of reinsurance terms.
Credits 20
10
Evaluate the implications of
contemporary legal issues and
industry trends within a
specialised insurance context
to determine the potential
impact on service delivery
and/or solutions.
Programme and assessment will include:
–
impact of events and consequences of
decisions on an individual or a business.
–
consequences of non-compliance with legal
requirements and industry best practice.
–
responding to contemporary legal issues and
industry trends.
Credits 5
11
Analyse needs and risks, and
apply detailed knowledge of
available products and
solutions to make specific
recommendations in complex
and non-standard situations.
Programme and assessment will include:
–
complexity arising in insurance situations.
–
quantify risks, insurable needs, and potential
losses in complex situations.
–
managing risks and achieving objectives.
Mandatory
Mandatory
Mandatory
Credits 15
12
Investment strand graduates
will be able to:
Programme and assessment will include:
–
factors that impact on asset valuation.
Analyse financial and nonfinancial assets, portfolios,
financial markets, and global
trends within a specialised
investment context, to provide
specialised solutions to
identified needs.
–
application of common investment concepts
and theories to analysis of investment assets
and portfolios.
–
impact of global trends and market issues on
investment assets and portfolios.
–
factors that affect the price of key
commodities.
Credits 35
13
Evaluate the implications of
contemporary legal issues and
industry trends within a
specialised an investment
context to determine the
potential impact on service
delivery and/or suitable
options.
Programme and assessment will include:
–
impact of events and consequences of
decisions on an individual or a business.
–
consequences of non-compliance with legal
requirements and industry best practice.
–
responding to contemporary legal issues and
industry trends.
Mandatory
Mandatory
Credits 5
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© New Zealand Qualifications Authority 2015
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