Wealth Management Essentials (WME)

Whether you wish to embark on a financial planning or investment management career, the Wealth Management Essentials (WME®) course provides the foundational knowledge you need to succeed.

In addition to meeting a regulatory requirements, the WME® course provides the foundation to earn more advanced certifications in financial planning, investment management, or wealth management. This course provides knowledge to help advisors deal with the increasingly complex demands of clients in a highly competitive environment.

What Skills Will You Develop?

• The WME® course provides advisors with a holistic approach to wealth management. You will gain the knowledge and skills to guide your clients in different areas of financial planning, covering such topics as getting to know the client, budgeting and saving, borrowing, taxation, retirement and estate planning. 
• Additionally, you will learn about the concepts related to investment management, asset allocation, equities and debt securities, managed products, and portfolio monitoring and performance.

Who Should Enrol?

• Enrol in the WME® if you’re:
• Required to meet CIRO’s 30-month post-registration proficiency requirements for investment advisors
• Seeking to attract wealthier and more sophisticated clients
• A graduate of the CSC® and want to focus on financial planning and investment management
• Interested in working towards the PFP®, CIWM or CIM® designations

What Will You Learn About?

• Wealth management as a distinct practice in today’s financial services environment
• Ethics, a framework for ethical decision-making, and consequences of non-compliance
• Getting to know your clients when creating a comprehensive budget and savings plans
• Calculating the time value of money for various purposes 
• Various forms of credit and steps advisors take to evaluate a client’s creditworthiness
• Issues that arise from relationship breakdown
• Personal risk management as part of a fully integrated wealth management plan
• Taxation issues, tax planning, tax-effective investments, and tax minimization strategies
• Registered accounts that are set up as savings vehicles for retirement
• Government programs and annuity-based products that provide pension income and other retirement benefits
• Estate planning under Canadian laws 
• Fintech
• Estate planning under Canadian laws
• Specific steps in the portfolio management process
• Asset allocation strategies that best suit your clients’ goals and objectives
• Debt and equity securities and managed products
• Steps involved in monitoring and evaluating portfolio performance

Syllabus:

• Chapter 1 - Wealth Management Today
• Chapter 2 - Ethics and Wealth Management
• Chapter 3 - Getting to Know the Client
• Chapter 4 - Assessing the Client's Financial Situation
• Chapter 5 - Consumer Lending and Mortgages
• Chapter 6 - Legal Aspects of Family Dynamics
• Chapter 7 - Personal Risk Management Process
• Chapter 8 - Understanding Tax Returns
• Chapter 9 - Tax Reduction Strategies
• Chapter 10 - Registered Retirement Savings Plans
• Chapter 11 - Employer-Sponsored Pension Plans and Funding Retirement
• Chapter 12 - Government Pensions Programs
• Chapter 13 - Retirement Planning Process
• Chapter 14 - Protecting Retirement Income
• Chapter 15 - Wills and Powers of Attorney
• Chapter 16 - Estate Planning Strategies
• Chapter 17 – Investment Management Today
• Chapter 18 - Investment Management
• Chapter 19 - Asset Allocation
• Chapter 20 - Equity Securities
• Chapter 21 - Debt Securities: Characteristics, Risks, Trading, and Yield Curves
• Chapter 22 - Debt Securities: Pricing, Volatility and Strategies
• Chapter 23 - Managed Products
• Chapter 24 - Portfolio Monitoring and Performance Evaluation