Wizard Learning has been very helpful to this site over the years and has just published a new presentation on this subject. With the RDR implementation date less than 12 months it is well worth watching and can be found here to make sure you are aware of the professionalism and gap fill requirements that advisers need to have in place by 1 January 2013.

The presentation covers all these professionalism and gap fill requirements:

• Appropriate and transitional qualifications
• Accreditation and accredited bodies
• Identifying knowledge gaps and gap filling
• Statement of Professional Standing (SPS)
• CPD requirements
• CPD and gap fill solutions

Wizard Leaning has once again supported the Paraplanner of the Year by providing the technical assessment and two of the prizes.  We are very grateful and would like to help them by letting you know about some new learning material they have just produced .

If you are taking the RO6 exam on 3 October then you will probable be very interested in the expected solution their team of experts have completed based on a detailed analysis of the two R06 case studies that have been issued by the CII .

Included are a list of the questions that they feel could be asked along with a detailed solution.  You can now purchase the R06 expected solution for £95 (£79 excluding VAT) for the 3 October exam. In addition you will also get access to Wizard Learning’s CPD and gap filling system for the next two months. This system gives you access to 5 online multimedia courses for subjects R01 to R05 providing you with valuable additional reference material prior to the exam.

Click here now to purchase the expected solution. After purchasing you will get immediate access to the R06 expected solution and the CPD and gap fill system will be added to your record within 24 hours.  A 5% discount applies to all Users of this site and anyone else who you forward this email to.

PLEASE NOTE: We have arranged a 5% discount with Wizard Learning. To get your discount you MUST enter the code PARA in the promotion box that appears after you click on the checkout image.

We are very pleased to welcome Henderson Global Investors as sponsors of the site.  We have been talking with Henderson for some time about the role of paraplanners and how we play an important role in the financial advice process and are pleased to see that they are now focusing on how they can support us all on a day to day basis in the future.  With that in mind Henderson are carrying out a short survey which you can access by clicking the banner at the top of the page or by clicking here. As well as helping them to help paraplanners there is also an iPad to be won so please spare a few minutes of your time and take part.

Yes, it’s that time of the year again when you have a chance to win some nice prizes and be crowned Paraplanner of the Year 2010.  Full details of the awards, entry criteria and prizes can be found here.

The articles from T Bailey over the past few weeks have had a great deal of interest. T Bailey finish their articles this week with some further information about the Fund Managers.

There is also the final chance to win £25 Amazon vouchers. The questions are simple, so well worth looking at.

The winner of the Week 2 competition was John Burrows of Whichers IFA Limited; well done John.

Don’t forget there is also the ‘Ask Jason’  feature still running so if you would like to ask Jason or Elliott a question please send them to either martin@theparaplanner.com or info@tbailey.co.uk and we will get them to answer them for you.

The T. Bailey Fund Managers

Jason Britton is the Chief Investment Officer and Fund Manager at T. Bailey.  Jason has worked with the T. Bailey funds since their launch in 1999 and is an Oxford mathematics graduate and ACA with over 10 years’ experience of the fund management industry.

Jason’s main speciality is advanced quantitative analysis to help monitor and assess the ever-increasing universe of investment funds from which T. Bailey can choose when constructing portfolios.

Jason manages all five funds offered by T. Bailey and is supported by Elliot Farley, Assistant Fund Manager.  Elliot is a Warwick University mathematics graduate with 9 years experience in the fund management industry. He has worked with the T. Bailey funds since 2000 having previously been an ACA with Deloitte & Touche.

AMAZON VOUCHER COMPETITION QUESTIONS:

Jason Britton has worked with the T. Bailey funds since:

A)    1999

B)    1998

C)    2000

How big is the current fund range at T. Bailey?

A)    4 Funds

B)    5 Funds

C)    6 Funds

To enter please send your name and address along with your answers to both questions by email to info@tbailey.co.uk.

By entering this competition, you agree to be bound by the following Terms and Conditions:

1. No purchase is necessary and only one entry per person, per draw will be allowed.
2. One prize of a £25 Amazon Voucher, per draw (i.e. four prizes in total) is available to the winner, who will be selected from random from all correct entries received.
3. No cash substitution will be available.
4. The competition is open to UK residents aged 18 and over, except employees of T. Bailey Asset Management Ltd, its associates, their families or anyone connected with the competition.
5. For inclusion into the week 4 draw, entries must be received no later than 10 February 2010.

The draw for week 4 will be made on 11 February 2010.

1. Winners will be notified immediately and their names published online at www.theparaplanner.com.
2. The promoter will not accept liability for lost or delayed entries. Proof of entering is not proof of receipt of entry. No correspondence in connection with the competition will be entered into and the decision of T. Bailey Asset Management Ltd is final.
3. The winners agree to the promoter’s use of their name, address and photograph in relation to the promoter’s publicity material.
4. The promoter’s contact details are: T. Bailey Asset Management Limited, 64 St. James’s Street, Nottingham, NG1 6FJ.

As you know T Bailey have been sponsoring a competition over the past few weeks. The competition has had a fantastic response; to everyone who entered thank you.

When T Bailey started their sponsorship they very kindly offered the services of their Chief Investment Officer, Jason Britton to answer any questions that anyone wished to put to him.

As you can imagine we have had a number of questions and we hope to be able to publish many of the answers over the next few weeks however as a flavour, Jason has kindly answered the following two questions.

Question 1

I am reviewing a client’s portfolio and they have a large exposure to commercial property, what is your view on commercial property and should this be reallocated?

Jason’s answer

Our view is that we have moved from being negative on commercial property to neutral, so we are still relatively cautious and very careful about what opportunities there are, for example we only choose funds which have an adequate variety of both landlords and tenants to kick in an extra layer of diversity.  A high allocation to this asset class can be dangerous, in our view, but as you know it depends on the client’s risk tolerance and requirements.

Question 2

An IFA has asked me to investigate China as a region – is there more value there?

Jason’s answer

We view China as an unstoppable force in the emerging markets and, like many, understand the effect it has on the rest of the world.  However, these are interesting times and while Anthony Bolton has announced his intention to move there and establish a new fund, we tend to invest in the surrounding area (as can be seen from the T. Bailey Growth Fund exposure) as we find you can get a better risk/reward than investing direct.

If you have any other questions you would like Jason to answer, please feel free to email your question to info@tbailey.co.uk

Similarly, if you have not had the opportunity to look at who T Bailey are, or what they do, please click on their logo on the right.

Now it’s time to say thanks to our sponsors who help us pay the bills over here and keep the site running.  Please make sure that you click through and see what they have to offer.

• Legal & General – our new main front page sponsor as part of their new distribution funds campaign.

• The Hartford -our first ‘big name’ sponsor and very keen to help develop the site for paraplanners.  The Hartford sponsor our Pension and Investment categories and you can read more about their Hartford Platinum product for pensions and their Hartford Gold Investment Bond by clicking the links.

• Life Trust – our newest sponsor have recently launched their unique Longevity Income Plan in the UK.

• Wizard Learning – the leading online exam study and CPD resource with a 5% discount available for our users (just click the link).

If you’re interested in becoming a sponsor of The Paraplanner you can find out more about it on our site by clicking here.