AF4 Investment Planning

Forms part of

The Advanced Diploma in Regulated Financial Planning

Credits awarded

30

Exam length

3 hours

Exam type

Written

Exam content

Case study based exam. 160 marks spread over 3 compulsory questions

Pass mark

Week & Topic 

         Content 

WEEK / MODULE  1

R02 part 1 review 

• AF4 intro document
• Our guide to effective study
• Full access to R02 study materials from weeks 1 & 2 of the programme
• Exercises and supporting materials
• Multi-choice QBs to assess understanding

WEEK / MODULE 2 

R02 part 2 review 

• Intro to week 2
• Full access to R02 study materials from weeks 3 & 4 of the programme
• Exercises and supporting materials
• Multi-choice QBs to assess understanding

WEEK / MODULE 3

Economics & Formulas

• Intro to week 3
• Economics Delegate – ‘this is an opportunity for you to show your understanding of some key economics terminology and apply some of the most important principles’
• Economics Complete – ‘use this document to check your answers to the above. This completed version is designed to be a useful revision aid’
• UK Economics Questions – ‘these questions frame the information derived from the previous exercise into examination style questions for you to attempt’
• UK Economics Answers – ‘the answers to the questions above. Make sure you debrief these questions carefully’
• Economic Cycle – Asset Classes Questions – ‘as with the above, these are exam style questions. These are focused on the impact of the economic cycle on asset classes’
• Economic Cycle – Asset Classes Answers – ‘use this document to debrief the previous exercise’
• J10 Formulas and Ratios – ‘This document introduces some new calculations that are important in AF4 but only really covered in the CII’s J10 paper. We’ll be using them later in this learning track’
• R02 Formulas and Ratios – ‘This document summarises the main calculations in R02 as well as giving you an opportunity to show you can apply the them’
• Formulas and Ratios Complete – ‘This draws together all the formulae and ratios from both R02 and J10. Use this to debrief the previous exercise. This document is an essential revision aid’

WEEK / MODULE 4 

Investments, Taxation & Risk

• Intro to week 4
• Direct v Indirect Investment Exercise – ‘This document serves two functions. Firstly, it is designed to test your retention of the detail surrounding asset classes and products. Secondly, it gives you a method for remembering the criteria for comparing assets and products – this style of question is frequently tested in the AF4 examination’
• Direct v Indirect Investment Complete – ‘This is a completed version of the above, please make sure you debrief this exercise carefully’
• Asset Classes Suitability & Risks – ‘This is a summary document illustrating the suitability criteria of each asset class as well as the corresponding risks’
• Tax treatment of Collective Investment Schemes – ‘This is a summary of how the most frequently tested collective investment schemes are taxed’
• Taxation of Investments Questions – ‘This exercise puts the taxation of investments into exam style questions – we’ll see if you can recall one of the more complex schemes too (a preview for next week)’
• Taxation of Investments Answers – ‘Use this to debrief the above’
• Equity Exercises – ‘We need to keep our calculation brain ticking over so here are a few equity exercises that should start to feel a little more comfortable now’
• Bond Exercises – ‘As above but for Gilts/Corporate bonds’

WEEK / MODULE 5

Alternatives & Derivatives

• Intro to week 5
• EIS/SEIS/VCT Exercise – ‘This exercise is designed to assess the key information on these heavily tested products and you should complete the blanks in the grid accordingly’
• EIS/SEIS/VCT Complete – ‘Use this to debrief the above exercise. The completed table is an essential part of your revision kit’
• Property Collectives Summary – ‘PAIFs & REITs are the most heavily tested property collective schemes. This document captures the essential information and you should know it well’
• Commodities One Page Summary – ‘Commodities are not heavily tested in AF4 but when they do come up it tends to features, advantages/disadvantages and risks – we capture that in one page here’
• Derivatives Delegate – ‘This document is a worksheet. If you are feeling confident, start here and complete the worksheet accordingly. If you aren’t, start with the completed version and come back to this exercise later in your studies’
• Derivatives Complete – ‘This is the completed version of the above document’
• Other Investments Revision Exercise – ‘It’s essential to keep question practice going! This is an opportunity to test some of the knowledge from this week and beyond’

WEEK / MODULE 6 

Investment Theory & Portfolio Construction

• Intro to week 6
• Investment theory worksheet Delegate – ‘This is a short exercise to get you using some of the theory covered in R02 and frequently tested in AF4. You should fill in the blank boxes and don’t miss the efficient frontier question’
• Investment theory worksheet Complete – ‘Use this to debrief the above exercise’
• Investment Ratio Calculations Delegate – ‘This document is made up of four short case studies presented in the style of the examination. Have the formulae handout from week 3 to hand in case you get stuck but see how much you can answer without referring to it first’
• Investment Ratio Calculations Complete – ‘Debrief this exercise carefully. It’s almost certain that some of the topics here will be covered in your examination’
• Investment advice process & considerations Delegate – ‘There are always marks available for showing an understanding of the advice and investment processes. These are easy marks to attain but also easy marks to miss out on if you assume that you ‘know this stuff because of your day job’. Use this document to walk through the heavily tested areas from this part of the syllabus and fill in the blanks as they arise’
• Investment advice process & considerations Complete – ‘Use this to mark your answers to the above exercise’
• Portfolio Construction Revision Exercises – ‘These questions will help you consolidate some of the key concepts from the week’

WEEK / MODULE 7

Measuring Performance & Company Accounts

• Intro to week 7
• Share analysis (simple example) – ‘Before we launch into investment analysis questions, let’s take time to warm up by walking through a couple of simple examples using share analysis to understand what the examiner is looking for’
• Performance and annualised return Delegate – ‘You should now attempt these three case studies. Please note that these are deliberately challenging to ensure you are appropriately prepped when you start to look at the past papers’
• Performance and annualised return Complete – ‘Use this document to debrief the above exercise’
• Company Accounts Introduction – ‘We’ll move on to attempt some company accounts calculations shortly but you should start by reading this introductory document’
• Company Accounts and ratios Delegate – ‘Now move on to attempt these case studies. We will be going to the ‘nth degree’ here to give you some solid examples for your revision. The standard format for the CII is to either compare a company’s performance year on year or compare the performance of two different companies – we will do both here’
• Company Accounts and ratios Complete – ‘Use this to carefully debrief the above exercise’
• Measuring Performance Revision Exercises – ‘This document is made up of some short exercises to help with your revision’
• Company Accounts Revision Exercises – ‘This document is made up of some short exercises to help with your revision’

WEEK 8 – Recommended study 

CII Mock examination 1 & Self-directed revision 

• Intro to week 8
• Optional CII mock 1 (recommended)

WEEK 9 – Recommended study 

CII Mock examination 2 & Self-directed revision

• Intro to week 9
• Optional CII mock 2 (recommended)