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Does your company have new staff who are uninitiated in the mysteries of pensions? Or existing employees who would benefit from updating? Perhaps your own job involves pensions, and you need a good basic knowledge. HR departments might be interested.
Retirement Provision Certificate (RPC) examination is the perfect qualification.The RPC exam is just about the only introductory qualification available.
So how are candidates going to build up the necessary knowledge for their career and/or in preparation for the exam? Maybe an in-house solution developed from scratch? What about an expensive day long lecture? No?
Aries to the rescue once again. February 2004 saw the launch of a brand new computer-based training course: Aries Retirement Provision Certificate Course (Aries RPCC). It covers the PMI's RPC syllabus and its interactivity makes it excellent exam preparation. Of course, you don't have to be taking the RPC exam to benefit from the Aries RPCC; it can be the foundation of any career in pensions.
The Aries Solution To meet the need for basic pensions training, for the assistance of the pensions industry, we have produced our Aries Retirement Provision Certificate Course (Aries RPCC). It's now ready for use and you can have it up and running in your office in a couple of days' time from now. A ready made solution to that training problem, and at a fraction of what it would cost to develop your own training material from scratch.
The system contains 10 Units, each with a number of Parts, which further sub-divide into a number of headings. Each Unit and Part can be accessed through pull-down menus on the main screen (link will launch image in a new window). Once in your selected training Part, the user can work through the headings systematically, or go directly to those of interest.
These abilities, and the modular nature of Aries RPCC, allow the user to select just the material of interest, or return to reinforce gaps in knowledge once the course has been completed.
Aries RPCC also contains plenty of self-test questions which help to reinforce learning. These occur at intervals within the text units to test ongoing understanding; the user can easily return to material if required. Each of the 10 Units concludes with a 10 question test, the scores for which are recorded by the system.
These questions come in a variety of flavours: free text, which allow the answer to be typed in (predictable spelling errors are ignored!); simple yes/no; and multiple choice, which are good practice for the RPC examination.
Aries RPCC actually records each student's progress through graphical representations on the main screen, allowing trainees to resume where they left off. There is also a progress record which displays the headings still to be completed and up to 8 previous test scores in each Unit. These records can also be accessed by a central "trainer" ID, to keep track of a number of trainees at once.
So, there it is - the Aries Retirement Provision Certificate Course - ready for action. It's got the range and depth of knowledge your staff need, but all put into a very readable form. You won't find anything else comparable to it on the market. For a very modest investment, that knowledge can be at your staff's fingertips.
WHAT'S IN THE ARIES RETIREMENT PROVISION CERTIFICATE COURSE?
The Training Units
The system has 10 training units in all. Unit 1 sets the historical context for pensions, with a brief look at how pension provision has developed. It includes a look at various scandals that have rocked the industry in recent times.
Unit 2 continues to develop the bigger picture by describing the various parties involved in pensions. This includes individuals, such as actuaries and auditors; government bodies, Opra, DWP, FSA etc; and professional bodies like the PMI and The Actuarial Profession.
Unit 3 develops the government theme to look at how the framework of tax reliefs make pensions so attractive. Next the many facets of the social security system are analysed. The rest of Unit 3 looks in some depth at the basic state pension, the additional component and contracting-out.
Unit 4 improves trainees' understanding of the employment package with a consideration of remuneration, final remuneration (for pension purposes) and flexible benefits. The remainder considers share schemes and health benefits.
Unit 5 is the first of 2 units which build up knowledge of occupational pension schemes (OPS). The focus here is approval, scheme design, AVCs, retirements, early leavers and death benefits.
Unit 6 continues the OPS theme with a consideration of funding issues: contributions; the actuarial role; surplus & deficit; and winding up.
Unit 7 builds a knowledge of trusteeship, trust law and the various trustee types.
Unit 8 deals with compliance, looking at disclosure, data protection, accounting standards and disputes.
Unit 9 adds knowledge of personal pensions (PPs). In addition, this section develops understanding of retirement annuity contracts, stakeholder pensions and self-invested personal pensions. The remainder deals with personal savings: TESSAs, ISAs, IPAs, collective investments (unit trusts, investment trusts and OEICs), and concludes with a look at other investment considerations for the individual (such as equity release schemes and long-term care insurance).
Unit 10 concludes the system with a look at investment. Moving from investment considerations, through management types, the various asset classes, and ending with the Myners Principles.
Self-test Material
Each training unit has a 10-question test at the end. Also, self-test questions are interspersed liberally along the way within each unit. The tests and questions are important, because they maintain interest, give a challenge for the user to meet, and enable him or her to review the main points in the text.
Price Details
Aries RPCC is extremely cost-effective. The overall price scale works out as follows:
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single-user (on 1 PC) |
£85 |
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unlimited-user site licence |
£1,495 |
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unlimited user site licence for Aries Pension Club Members |
£995 |
| All prices quoted are subject to VAT at 17.5% |
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