The aim of this article is to provide an overview of some of the CPD Guidelines for the AFP designation. This is not exhaustive, and you should refer to the full guidelines for further detail.
Eligibility
The Accredited Funds Professional CPD scheme is open to those who:
Successfully complete the Professional Certificate in International Investment Fund Services or The Professional Certificate for Designated Persons in a Fund Management Company or holders of the previously named Professional Certificate in Mutual Funds / Professional Certificate in Investment Fund Services; or
Have completed the Financial Services elective as part of the Final Admitting Exams (FAE) of Chartered Accountants Ireland; or
Have at least four years’ minimum relevant work experience in the funds industry, whereby your employer shall provide confirmation of experience which meets the programme competencies as set out.
CPD Requirements (summary)
Total annual CPD requirement is 10 hours.
At least 1 hour must be relevant to Ethics.
At least 5 hours must be completed via IOB online modules and / or events provided by Irish Funds. These are deemed to be Accredited Funds Professional specialist content.
The minimum unit of time recognised and accredited for CPD purposes is half an hour. The maximum number of hours for any single activity is four hours.
All CPD events must be accredited by IOB.
Learn how to submit external events for accreditation here.
All events must be completed by December 31st in the relevant year and must be recorded, with an annual return made by January 31st.
A random sample of members are audited each year.
Cost
To access the CPD content provided by IOB (events, eCPD, etc), you are required to maintain annual IOB Membership (currently €110) and the annual AFP designation fee of €115.
Failure to Comply
Any Accredited Funds Professional who:
Fails to make an annual return and/or
Fails to co-operate when audited and/or
Fails to pay their membership fees
will be deemed to be in breach of the CPD scheme requirements. This will result in the removal of the Accredited Funds Professional designation from the member.
Any Accredited Funds Professional who fails to complete the CPD requirement in any given year as set out in Annual CPD Requirements (i.e. fails to complete the required hours, fails to complete the five hours specialist content category or fails to complete one hour related to ethics) will, in the first instance, be given a grace period to ‘catch up’ and complete any shortfall in CPD requirements by 31 December of the following CPD year (in addition to the requirements for that CPD year).
A five-year shortfall warning penalty will also be applied to the member’s record i.e. if the member fails to complete the CPD requirements as set out in Annual CPD Requirements in any of the five years following the first failure to comply, the Accredited Funds Professional designation will be removed.
Where an Accredited Funds Professional is found to have made a false or seriously incorrect annual return, this will be considered misconduct by the member and will be referred for consideration under the disciplinary procedure for members, which may lead to expulsion from membership or other sanction. A member found to have made a false or seriously incorrect return of hours may also be permanently excluded from holding the Accredited Funds Professional designation.
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