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Moonstone Monitor -  6 July 2017
In This Week's Newsletter
 
From the Crow's Nest
The future of Level 2 REs and CPD – Recent update from the FSB quells speculation
 
Your Practice Made Perfect
Are you ready for outcomes-based regulation? – Face the inevitable in an informed manner
Employees' Tax on Termination – Webber Wentzel provides the facts on this important matter
Insurance Apprentice 2018 gets under way – Fancy flying to London for a week?
 
Technologically Speaking
Suitebox fills the gap – While the big names aimed at the masses, Suitebox focussed on financial advice
 
Regulatory Examinations
Next RE opportunities in the UK
Schedule for 2017
Self-Help Guidelines and Frequently asked questions
 
Careers Platform
Are you hiring? Advertise your position on Moonstone’s Career Platform
Featured Positions
 
In Lighter Wyn
Google’s got your number…
Paul Kruger 2016-10-31
Paul Kruger Author/Editor
 
 
 
 

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Please connect with us: www.moonstone.co.za
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From the Crow's Nest
From the Crow's Nest
The future of Level 2 REs and CPD – July 2017
A recent “Round Table” discussion by Ms Caroline da Silva, Deputy Registrar, FAIS of the FSB, provided a welcome update on the Regulator’s current thinking on a number of key issues, including:
  • Regulatory exams

  • Continuous Professional Development

  • Training


Level 1 and 2 Regulatory Exams

Those who did not bother to read the full article published in Media24 may have come to wrong conclusion regarding the future of the current level 1 REs. Everything is going ahead exactly as it currently stands. The only probable changes relate to what we always regarded as unnecessary duplication, i.e. key individuals and sole proprietors having to pass both the RE 1 and RE 5 (rep’s exam).

As far back as 2013 the FSB placed the proposed level 2 REs on ice. It subsequently became evident that there would be substantial changes made to what was originally intended. This became even more evident as lessons were learnt from the level 1 REs. One of the game changers was the cost and complexity of managing, maintaining, updating and quality assuring of examinations and infrastructure. If this was a problem as far as the four level 1 REs are concerned (RE1, 3, 4 and 5), imagine the impact of 26 level 2 REs.

The new “level 2” requirements

The current thinking is to introduce both a “Class of Business” as well as a “Product Training” to ensure that advisers are equipped to provide clients with sufficient information to make an informed decision.

Class of business refers to a specific licence category, e.g. short-term personal lines, while product training would focus on the specific construction of a specific provider’s product. One would presume that this would include accreditation by the product provider, particularly in the case of more complex products, such as those listed in the Tier 1 category.

The following people will be exempted from class of business training:
  • Reps & KIs - funeral assistance business

  • Cat I Reps - Tier 2 products

  • Cat I Reps - Execution of sales – all products


The “Execution of sales” referred to above is a contentious issue which still forms part of the current discussion of new Fit and Proper requirements, and will be expanded on in a later article.

A very important aspect of the proposed new level 2 exams is that employers and FSPs will be responsible for compliance, monitoring and reporting on training.

Grandfathering introduced

A most welcome consideration will be recognition of prior learning for established advisers when it comes to Class of business and Product training.

The proposed class of business and product specific training requirements will ONLY apply to NEW ENTRANTS and persons still working under SUPERVISION. This means that “grandfathering” will apply to persons that are already in the industry which essentially means that everyone that is currently in the industry will not be required to:
  • Do class of business training through an accredited training provider;

  • Do product specific training in respect of the products that they are currently rendering services for UNLESS where the product has undergone significant product changes and the persons must be upskilled on those particular changes – this is the usual business practice in any case and will therefore not have any significant impact on what is currently happing in the industry.


Continuous Professional Development (CPD)

The purpose of CPD is to ensure that advisers maintain the required competence to render financial services in line with required standards.

The FSP will be required to establish and maintain:
  • policies on how to maintain, update and develop new knowledge and skills

  • training plans to ensure CPD is relevant and appropriate and

  • record keeping of CPD hours and evidence of activities


Different standards and/or exemptions will apply, depending on the complexity of products one advises on.

Please just bear in mind that all of the above are still PROPOSALS, and still subject to change. This applies particularly to CPD, where unscrupulous training providers have in the past used this as a means to get people to sign up for training by offering CPD points as an incentive.

Although CPD was a requirement since 2008, a general exemption still applies, except for those who underwent training on a voluntary basis or where they were members of professional bodies where this is a compulsory requirement.
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GTC banner 2017-07-06
Are you experienced in providing technical support for EB consultants?
If you are, then there is an opportunity for you to join GTC’s leading EB Consulting team. This role includes providing technical support for EB consultants; management and monitoring of consultants’ tasks on GTC’s operational systems; supporting client-facing consultants in daily operational work; preparation of proposals, meeting packs, reports, letters and presentations, etc.

If you are interested in this exciting role, request the full job spec or submit your CV to recruitment@gtc.co.za. If shortlisted, you will be contacted for an interview. Should you not receive a response within 30 days, please consider your application unsuccessful.

www.gtc.co.za
.
Your Practice Made Perfect
Your Practice
Are you ready for outcomes-based regulation?
Contestants! Are you ready????????????

To this day I shudder when I remember dear old Cyril Mitchley acting as the starter for that silly game show “Gladiators” on TV.

This article is about a far more serious matter.

Juanita Moolman, Head: Legal and Business Assurance in the Hollard HAD business unit, takes a historical perspective on this very important change in approach on regulation, then dissects it into meaningful, practical content. She discusses, amongst other aspects, the benefits, risks and challenges for us as an industry, and finally sketches a picture of what the future might look like in practical terms.

In discussing the current situation, she states:

“Non-compliance with these rules can result in harsh financial penalties and therefore compliance becomes a tick-box approach to avoid financial and reputational risk, often at the cost of meaningful interaction with customers.”

Amen.

Click here to read her views.
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FPI banner 2017-07-06
5 reasons you should be talking about the FPI Professionals Convention
The 2017 FPI Professionals Convention, themed “Lead | Inspire | Build Trust” takes place in the Mother City on 19 - 20 October 2017 at the Century City Conference Centre.

Here are five reasons why you should be talking about this event (and booking your seat of course!):
  1. Meet experts and thought-leaders in the industry face-to-face;

  2. Be inspired by the latest industry trends and how they are implemented;

  3. Gain tools and practical insights to build trust with your clients;

  4. Immerse yourself in exceptional content, push your career development to the next level and claim CPD points; and

  5. Experience transformational networking and lifelong relationship-building with industry front-runners and fellow CFP® professionals at the FPI Awards Ceremony Gala Dinner.


Join us in Cape Town by booking your seat now or to register visit www.fpiconvention.co.za.
 
Employees' Tax on Termination
We recently received a very informative article from Webber Wentzel on what can be quite a taxing question, if you’ll pardon the pun.

Employees are entitled to certain payments upon termination of their employment. Some are payments to which they are entitled in law while others are payments to which employees may be entitled in terms of their contracts of employment.

Employers are often uncertain what employees' tax deductions are required to be made from such payments and the processes that must be followed to determine the amounts to be deducted.

Special tax rates, based on the retirement lump sum tax table, apply specifically to severance payments made to an employee.

What circumstances need to exist before an employee may lawfully claim an entitlement to the tax benefit specified above?

The answers to these issues, and more, are contained in the article.

You can click here to read the article online, or you can download a PDF for your own records, or to share with clients.
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Insurance Apprentice 2018 gets under way
The fourth series of The Insurance Apprentice is set to take the short-term insurance industry by storm once again as preparations get under way and applications for the 2018 event take center stage. The Insurance Apprentice is a ‘reality type’ series competition in which eight young contestants complete various insurance related tasks while being filmed. Applications close on 31 August 2017, so do not delay your entry.

Who can enter?

You need to:
  • Be younger than 35

  • Have been in the short-term insurance industry for four or more years and

  • Preferably hold a COP or other professional qualification.


There are two ways to enter:
  • Complete an application form

  • Take a short cut by submitting your one minute video telling us why you should be in the competition.


After the elimination rounds in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban, eight Apprentices will be chosen. Filming will take place from 7 to 12 January 2018. The series will be aired via the FAnews and The Insurance Apprentice websites, YouTube and Facebook.

The winner will:
  • Fly business class to London for a week to visit Lloyds of London;

  • Receive a bursary valued at R75 000 from INSETA; and

  • A cash prize of R20 000 from Masifunde Training Centre.


So, what are you waiting for?

Click here to read frequently asked questions.
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Technologically Speaking
Suitebox 2017-06-29
Moonstone Information Refinery
Digital Workspace Solutions provider SuiteBox Breaks New Ground
When New Zealand–based SuiteBox launched six years ago, it started out supplementing annual company meetings with online video. But a few years in, the startup had the foresight to pivot. The new target? A market that Skype, FaceTime, Google Hangouts, DocuSign, and WebEx had missed: virtual meetings in the financial world, providing broad (and legal) identity authentication via real-time digital signatures and video.

SuiteBox built a financial-grade communications and collaboration solution on Oracle Cloud technology that makes it possible for financial advisers to hold virtual meetings via connected devices, record all or part of their encounters, share and digitally sign electronic assets, and embed or white-label the interactions for any relationship management platform.

Click here to read the rest of this article originally published in Oracle Magazine.

Media contact

Neil Summers, Sales Manager, Moonstone Business Services
Mobile: +27729088994
Email: neil@suitebox.com

About SuiteBox

SuiteBox transforms customer engagement with intuitive video, document collaboration, selective recording and real-time digital signing, helping you accelerate and close business using the full power of mobile and desktop devices. It is able to be fully white labelled and seamlessly integrated with a client’s core CRM or banking platform. SuiteBox is available via monthly subscription, is delivered via the cloud and requires no technical expertise to use. Visit www.suitebox.com for more information.
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Regulatory Examinations
Regulatory exams banner
Next RE opportunities in the UK
The next RE opportunity in the UK will be as follows:

Date: 22 September 2017

Venue: CCT Venues-Barbican Aldersgate House London

Enquiries:

Please contact Marietjie Grant:

mgrant@moonstoneinfo.com / faisexam@moonstoneinfo.co.za

Telephone:+27 21 883 9796 / +27 21 883 8000
.
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RE Schedule updated
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RE Self-Help Guidelines and Frequently Asked Questions
Self-Help Guidelines

Candidates who wrote with Moonstone can now view their results, make a new booking or update their information on our website: www.faisexam.co.za

Here is what you do:
  1. Click on the Moonstone FAIS Exam website (www.faisexam.co.za)

  2. Click on the second heading: “Update Your Booking/Personal Details/Get results”.

  3. Key in your ID or Passport Number used to register for the exam: click on Send password.

  4. The system will send a password to the e-mail address you provided at registration.

  5. Use this password to log in on the same address as above:
    Type in the password – do not copy and paste.

  6. Click login.

  7. You will then be able to make a booking, download your certificate or view results.


Frequently Asked RE Questions

Email enquiries should be addressed to faisexam@moonstoneinfo.co.za. You can phone us on 021 883 8000 - select option 2 to speak to one of our consultants.

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Careers Platform
Are you hiring? Advertise your position on Moonstone’s Career Platform
Careers Platform Packages

•   The Moonstone website - www.moonstone.co.za - enjoys an average of 15 000 visits and approximately 39 000 page views per month.
Moonstone boasts an exclusive newsletter mailing list of over 46000 dedicated financial decision makers who receive 2 newsletters per week.
Our audience is relevant and industry specific: individual and corporate advisors and brokers in the following financial sectors: Investment, Risk, Healthcare, Banking, Retirement, and Insurance.


Advertise


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Featured Positions
  • Short Term Insurance Junior Underwriter: JFA Shortterm Brokers CC, Milnerton - We require a responsible person with NQF4 and RE5 for all relevant tasks related to client services in our short term insurance practice. Read More

  • Sales Consultant – Medical Scheme Brokerage: Optivest, Durbanville - The ideal candidate is RE 5 qualified, has medical scheme experience and is comfortable to interact by phone. Read More

  • Accounts Executive / Broker: Garrun, Houghton - We require a FAIS compliant and experienced Short-Term Insurance Broker with own transport. Read More

  • Life Insurance Compliance Officer: Bidvest Life Insurance, Umhlanga - If you have a minimum of 3 years experience in the life insurance industry and Compliance Officer experience, then Read More

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In Lighter Wyn
In Lighter Wyn
Google’s got your number
I was seriously tempted to use this in the Technology section of our newsletter. It very clearly enunciates the concerns many of our older subscribers have about data abuse.

“Hello! Gordon's Pizza?”

“No sir, it's Google's Pizza.”

“Must be a wrong number.”

“No sir, Google bought the pizza shop.”

“OK. Here’s my order...”

“No problem sir, you want the usual?”

“The usual? How would you know? You’re under new management..”

“According to our caller ID, on the last 12 occasions you ordered pizza with cheese, sausage and thick crust.”

“Right…”

“…May I suggest this time you have ricotta, aragula and dried tomato?”

“No, I hate vegetables”

“But what about your high cholesterol?”

“My high cholesterol? How would you know?”

“Through the Subscribers’ Guide. We have the results of your blood tests for the last 7 years.”

“I don’t care, I already take medicine. Give me my usual.”

“But you haven’t been taking your medicine. You last purchased a box of 30 and that was 4 months ago at Drugsale Network.”

“I bought more from another drugstore.”

“It's not showing on your credit card.”

“I paid in cash.”

“But you didn’t withdraw enough cash according to your bank statement.”

“I have another source of cash.”

“It’s not showing on your last Tax Return, unless you got it from an undeclared income source…”

“Get lost! No more Google, Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp!

I'm going to a deserted island with no internet, no cell phones and no one to spy on me!”

“I understand sir, but you will need to renew your passport, your old one expired 5 weeks ago.”
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Tel: +27 21 883 8000   |   Fax: +27 21 883 8005
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