It’s a busy time for the Education Committee, as students across the region head back to school, college and university.

MSc in Financial Management Induction at Liverpool John Moores University

On the first day of their new term, the Masters students learnt how the CISI can support them into their studies and beyond.




The session also involved practitioner support from LJMU Alumni Tom Calland from Quilter Cheviot and Committee Member Susan Travers from Rathbones, and a networking session afterwards.

 

SkillsCymru Careers Event for North Wales students in Llandudno

Attracting up to 10,000 people each year, students and young people can learn about the huge range of careers in Wales.



Representing the CISI was Committee Member Colin Wickens accompanied by his colleague Chris Marshall from Dragon Investment Managers, St Asaph who helped man the stand. It was a fantastic opportunity to provide young people with the advice and guidance needed to follow a career in the world of finance.

New committee branch members

We are pleased to welcome two new members to the CISI Liverpool, Chester and North Wales Branch committee: Paul Loughlin, Deputy Chief Operating Officer at Rathbones and Ryan Cruise, Investment Manager at Investec.

Additionally, we welcome Alison Moore, Investment Director at Quilter Cheviot, as the branch’s first appointed representative.

 

Bank of England speaker Donna Kehoe, presenting 'Bank of England and Monetary Policy Committee Outlook for the UK Economy'

The excellent presentation was followed by an open and enthusiastic discussion amongst attendees.

Please look out for details of future local events, and ensure that the dates are marked in your diaries.

We are delighted to announce that the Institute of Banking in Ireland and the QFA Board have agreed that holders of the CISI’s Investment Advice Diploma (where a candidate holds 3 modules including the private client advice module) qualification are eligible to apply for exemption from the Professional Diploma in Financial Advice in the following modules:

•             QFA Life Assurance

•             QFA Pensions

•             QFA Investments

Click here for the full press release and here for more information on the exemption application process on the Institute of Banking website.

Click here for the IAD webpage

September was an eventful month for the region with a new school registration event being held at Rathbone Hall along with our annual football and netball tournaments.

CISI School Registration Event: 14th September 2016

The Education Committee held an open evening in Rathbone Hall for Year 12 students in the Liverpool Area to find out more information about the CISI Introduction to Investment programme.

Despite it being one of the hottest days of the year, we had a full house of parents and potential students.  Rob Shutt, our Education Secretary opened the event outlining our vision for the programme,followed by Anne Chisholm (CISI Education Development Executive) who discussed careers in Investment Management and the qualification in more detail.     

Paul Loughlin and Connor Day, both from Rathbones, brought the qualification to life, with Paul talking about the industry’s passion for supporting young people and Connor talking about his experience as an apprentice.

Afterwards, there was a Q&A and networking session where parents and students could talk first hand to a range of people in the industry, with most of the North West investment firms represented.  We are pleased to report that student numbers have been strong and we have managed to recruit some very intelligent and driven young people into the programme.

  
  Here’s to a successful school year!

Successful September Annual Sport Tournaments – Football & Netball

Football 2nd September
Our annual football tournament at Powerleague saw 10 teams battle it out for the highly coveted shield. It was a glorious evening so some of the goalkeeping errors on the night can be attributed to the sun being in the goalies’ eyes so caps hopefully will be a must next year! Investec team 2 won the overall tournament which saw their captain Darren O’Reilly being the only player in the CISI to have scored in 3 consecutive finals. Well done Darren and team!

Netball 9th September 
Our second annual charity Netball event in aid of SMART (Steven McEvoy Always Remembered and Treasured) which benefits the Walton Neurological Centre was held at IM Marsh. Seven teams competed for the new shield and without losing a game the Walton Centre stormed to victory. Congratulations Walton Centre!

Both events were well received by our members and we look forward to encouraging more teams to take part in the next football and netball tournaments.

See you all again next September!

2016 has been a momentous year for the UK following the Brexit vote in June 2016. The immediate reaction from the UK public and the markets was one of shock – however, subsequently to this we have seen many markets recover significantly, with UK Equity funds seeing an uplift of approximately 10% at the time of writing.

 

Other areas, such as commercial property, initially did not fare so well, and we saw suspensions or fair value adjustments on many funds in this sector. These restrictions are now being removed by most funds.

 

With some respite being achieved towards the end of summer 2016, and looking forward to the balance of 2016 and into 2017, the question has to be raised - "Where to now?".

 

The balance of 2016 is not going to be without its significant highlights. The obvious main contender would be the US presidential election which will occur at the beginning of November and this is going to be a closely fought - and some would argue rather scrappy – election, with both sides attracting much support but also negative comment. It will be interesting to learn the result and to observe the subsequent fallout.

 

New to the agenda is the Italian referendum called by Italy’s Prime Minister, Matteo Renzi, which is due to take place on 04 December. Although this is effectively only a referendum on constitutional reform, many are seeing it as a referendum on the tenure of the current Prime Minister, and possibly another signal that Italy, as a member of the European Union, may not be content with its current progress.

 

It will also be interesting to see how currencies such as the US Dollar, Sterling and the Euro are affected by these changes as the remainder of 2016 rolls out. 2016 will certainly be firmly on the investment agenda as a year of change and, some might argue fairly, controversy.

 

Focusing on the UK, we have a new Chancellor of the Exchequer in the form of Philip Hammond MP, and he will deliver his first Autumn Statement on 23 November 2016. I, along with many financial planners and investment managers, will watch this with interest to see if the strategy and policy for the new incumbent of the UK Government remains unchanged or seeks new paths. We have seen the Bank of England base interest rate fall from 0.50% down to 0.25%, with some indicating that we should anticipate further rate falls before the end of 2016. Also of note is the program of quantitative easing continuing as an economic tool to help smooth the UK forward following the summer, although struggling in some markets to inject the capital they require for their purposes through the planned purchase of assets.

 

We live in changeable times and I have no doubts that the balance of 2016 will keep financial planners and investment managers on their toes. We look forward to 2017 and the southern committee of CISI is already planning a dynamic program for 2017 to focus on some of the points noted in this blog, amongst others, to ensure that all have the opportunity to gain insights to help our businesses move forward.

 

The next CPD event for the CISI Southern group will take place on the late afternoon of Wednesday 16 November – please save the date. Further details will be circulated by email soon.

 

Keith G Churchouse BA (Hons), FPFS
Director

Chartered Financial Planner

CFP Chartered FCSI

ISO 22222 Certified

The Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment South Coast regional committee are delighted to invite you to join them for their 2016 annual dinner at the Hilton Hotel Bournemouth on Friday 18 November 2016.

The dinner, open to members and guests, is the region's principal social occasion of the year and we hope that you will be able to join us to celebrate the local, national and global achievements of the CISI.

The drinks reception will commence from 19:30, with dinner called at 20:00. Formal proceedings to the evening will conclude at approximately 23:00, with the bar closing at midnight.

Tickets for this event are £50 per person or £500 for a table of 10. The ticket price includes a welcome drinks reception, a three course meal and after dinner entertainment and anecdotes from our guest speaker, Rt. Hon Lord (John) Prescott. Please note that this does not include the cost of your wine which may be ordered separately.

We are delighted to have nominated Julia’s House as our charity for the evening. Julia's House is the only children’s hospice charity in Dorset dedicated to helping life-limited children and their families across the county and in South Wiltshire. 

If you would like to attend, please complete the attached booking form and return along with payment as directed. If you have any queries, please contact Nikki Macmillan, Regional Events Executive at the CISI, on +44 20 7645 0638 or at nikki.macmillan@cisi.org

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The Bank of England updates are always popular events in the West Midlands and Glynn Jones, Bank of England’s Deputy Agent for West Midlands and Oxfordshire, attracted good numbers to our September CPD event.

Glynn’s presentation covered the Bank’s most recent assessments of the economy and the factors that impact upon it. These include international and UK demand, the labour market, inflationary pressure and of course Brexit.

 

The first CISI Awards Ceremony for Ireland, was held on 21st October, at the Irish Stock Exchange with Simon Harris TD, Minister of State at the Department of Finance. 

There were nine individual prize winners announced on the evening for best performance in specific subject categories and Minister Harris presented the awards.  Cateriona Dooley won an award in two categories and is one of the Griffith College Dublin Diploma in Investment Compliance & Compliance graduates.  One of our winners has also won an individual prize globally for their performance.

The first group of successful candidates in Griffith College’s Diploma in Investment Operations & Compliance graduated in November and the 2015/2016 course is underway.  For further information on the qualification, click here.

Summer is coming to an end but we have an exciting line up of CISI events for the upcoming Autumnal months 

21st September
CPD - Behavioural Finance - Bulls & Bears, are we all sheep?

6th October
Jersey Branch Quiz night

29th November
CPD - The role of the CI Ombudsman

Two further CPD seminars to be announced for October and November

                 

Students taking Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (CISI) qualifications from schools and colleges across Merseyside & Chester gathered in the iconic Port of Liverpool Building on the Liverpool waterfront last week to take part in a Career in Investment Management Insight Conference.

The two- day conference, which included opportunities to learn more about the industry, meet practitioners and develop in-demand employability skills, was the culmination of a work experience week for 27 students, some of whom had spent the previous three days following a comprehensive work experience programme in Liverpool investment firms Blankstone Sington, Investec Wealth & Investment and Tilney Bestinvest.

Hosted by Rathbone Investment Management, and organised by the CISI and the Liverpool, Chester & North Wales CISI committee, the conference included a “Liver Bird’s Den” session, (as opposed to Dragon’s Den!) where local leading practitioners and VIPs - “Liver Birds” - judged the student’s investment pitches.

Our esteemed Liver Birds were Senior Investment Directors David Owen and Simon Fontes from Investec Wealth & Investment; Craig Clifford, Director, Client Service Delivery at Pershing; Liverpool City Councillor Jane Corbett and Becky Hellard, Liverpool City Council’s Director of Finance and Resources.

Further representatives from local firms were involved in the conference, alongside those offering students work experience – staff from Pershing Limited, Rathbone Investment Management, SL Investment Limited, Pavis Financial Management Limited and Marshall Moore - Financial Services recruitment company- got involved. Activities included Pershing/ BNY Mellon’s very popular Fundopoly investment game and a fast and furious speed networking session with practitioners.

John Haynes, Director of Liverpool’s International Coaching Academy and a personal success expert, gave the students an exciting interactive workshop on increasing their performance, motivation and self-belief. Brian Sloan, the Bank of England Deputy Agent for the North West presented the responsibilities of the Bank, an overview of the current economic climate and a fascinating insight into the impact of Brexit.

Students attending the conference from Archbishop Beck Catholic Sports College, King David High School and St John Bosco Arts College, take their CISI qualifications through Liverpool City Council’s Liverpool Learning Partnership CISI - sponsored programme, delivered through Archbishop Beck Catholic Sports College.

Students also attended from West Derby School, St Anselm’s College and Studio@Deyes, who will be offering CISI qualifications to their students from September. Other students interested in finding out more about a career in the industry came from Carmel College and Helsby High School.

The work experience week and conference culminated in a fantastic opportunity to meet with Gillian Tett, US Managing Editor of the Financial Times, journalist & author. Arranged by Liverpool City Councillor Jane Corbett and Liverpool, Chester & North Wales CISI Committee, the event took place at Tilney’s offices in The Royal Liver Building.

Students joined the City’s practitioners to hear Gillian provide an insightful and thought- provoking presentation on the current state of play in the economy and answer some tricky questions from both students and practitioners, as well as awarding prizes to outstanding students from the course of the week.

James Charlton, Tilney Fund Manager and President of the CISI Liverpool, Chester & North Wales Committee, said: “As a committee we work tirelessly to create opportunities for students but I have to thank our members, and the member firms for the overwhelming support they have given us, to make our second annual Investment Management Insight week a resounding success.

“It never ceases to amaze me how passionate our members are about education and the development of others. Over the course of the last academic year, we have credited our members with over 300 hours of CPD, through activities such as classroom support and 1 to 1 mentoring, and without them, the region’s education programme would not be so fruitful.

“It’s widely recognised that if you’re seeking a career in Wealth Management, outside of London, Liverpool is the place to be and we are committed to educating, developing and retaining the next generation of talented investment professionals in our city, and it’s fantastic to get Gillian’s backing as of one of the world’s most respected financial authors and journalists.”

Student quotes

On Work experience

Student- Charlotte- King David High School- Following work experience, I have a better understanding of the industry and am more interested in a career in the financial world

Student- Katie- Archbishop Beck Catholic Sports College – Work experience has motivated me even more to go into finance and I can actually see what I could be doing in the future

On the Careers Conference

Student- Joseph- Carmel College- The conference helped me decide my future and informed me on the steps I can take to get there

Student- Ryan- Kind David High School The conference has given me a great insight into what I would like to do in the future

Student- Will- St Anselm’s College The conference has inspired me to become an investment banker

Student- Alexander- St Anselm’s College A fantastic and unique experience that has expanded my knowledge of the industry and peaked my interest

Ends

 

For further information on the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment contact Lora Benson +44 20 7645 0662/ +44 7801 521034 or lora.benson@cisi.org

Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment  

The CISI’s mission is to help members attain, maintain and develop their knowledge and skills and to promote the highest standards of ethics and integrity in the securities and investment industry.

 

Based in the City of London, the CISI is a global organisation with representative offices in financial centres such as Dublin, Singapore, Hong Kong, Manila, Dubai, Mumbai and Colombo.  We work in close cooperation with regulators, firms and other professional bodies worldwide and over 40,000 examinations were sat in 80 countries in the last twelve months. 

With 40,000 members in 116 countries the CISI is the professional body which sets examinations and offers qualifications for those working, or looking to establish a career in the securities, investment, wealth and financial planning professions

We are looking for financial services firms of all shapes and sizes to partner with us to offer work experience opportunities to Year 12 & 13 students studying CISI qualifications at schools and colleges. Our aim is to connect motivated students with employers to support their learning experience and to promote financial services as an achievable career choice.

Find out more

The CISI Manchester branches AGM will take place on the 19^th July 2016 straight after the CPD event, the venue is as follows:

Manchester Art Gallery,
Mosley Street,
Manchester,
M2 3JL

Peter McGovern, member of the Professional Golfers’ Association and head professional at The Belfry, was on his ‘A’ game at the CISI’s recent Birmingham & West Midlands branch annual dinner, which raised £1000.00 for St Basils.

After dinner speaker and golfer Peter McGovern kept 95 guests entertained with golfing anecdotes at the event, held at the Symphony Ballroom at the Hyatt Regency in Birmingham.

For the full article and video please click here  

During the week of 4-8 July, Liverpool firms will once again open their doors to the future stars of Liverpool’s financial services sector, for the second annual work-experience and Investment Management insight week. Firms will welcome the 16-18-year-old students from schools across the city for a three day work placement followed by a two day conference at the prestigious Rathbone Hall in the Port of Liverpool Building, giving the students the opportunity to develop their practical skill set through interactive sessions such as; CV Writing, Speed Networking, Personal Development, Ethics and Integrity and the week will conclude with in the ‘Liver Bird’s Den’ - based on TV’s Dragons’ Den, students will have the opportunity to pitch their investment ideas to a panel of experts!

 

The aim of the week-long programme is to provide an insight into working in financial services and to encourage the next generation of finance professionals.

 

Last year was a roaring success, and below are links to some of the positive news coverage it received;

 

http://citywire.co.uk/wealth-manager/news/liver-birds-land-at-cisi-liverpool-event-to-support-industry-s-next-generation/a828637

 

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/business/liverpool-programme-encourages-future-financial-9706879

 

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/business/financial-firms-nurture-liverpool-stars-9580515

 

http://www.cisi.org/cisiweb2/cisi-news/s-i-review-article/60-second-interview-james-charlton-chartered-mcsi

 

 

We’re hoping that this year will be even bigger and better so please click back next month for an update.

No! I am not referring to the England football team in the Euro 2016 competition, but of course to the important EU referendum results. It is good to see that the situation is now finalised and will allow us to all move forward, although around half of those voting will be disappointed. I hope that our politicians are up to the task of healing any rifts and uniting the country.

Our CISI Southern branch enjoyed a lively pre-referendum debate in central Guildford on the afternoon of the 16^th June and the feedback from attendees was good. We send our thanks to Jerome Lussan, from Leven Partners who stepped in at short notice as one of our speakers. The post event feedback form also asked about the timing and location of the event, which the majority approved of. However, the CISI Southern Committee welcomes your feedback or suggestions on your preferences for the forthcoming calendar which is being prepared for the balance of 2016 and beginning of 2017.

With the successful merger of IFP with CISI now fully complete, we look forward to the members working together to enhance our networks, CPD opportunities, learning and profile over the coming year and any feedback or suggestions for speakers or subject financial topics is most welcome. Our door is open to growing the CISI Southern region. I would also like to congratulate Kate Nathoo, Client Director, from Thesis Asset Management as the new President of the CISI Southern region and to extend my warm thanks to James Stewart-Smith from Charles Stanley for his wise stewardship of the President’s post over the last few years.  

Do let us know what you wish to achieve from the CISI in our region. This can be as diverse as education support for you and your team, CPD facilities, social/networking events with fellow financial professionals, technical seminars…an endless list of possibilities! Just let us know and we will endeavour to add where we can.

The Committee looks forward to working with you over the balance of 2016 and beyond.

Keith Churchouse CFP Chartered CISI

Vice-President, CISI Southern Committee

View the press release

Guests at the CISI's Liverpool, Chester & North Wales branch annual dinner, held at the Titanic Hotel, Liverpool, contributed £2,842.50 towards the Alder Hey Children’s Charity

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Reverend Richard Coles, a musician, journalist and Church of England Priest, was guest speaker at the dinner, which raised £1,046.50 for Parkinson’s UK

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The CISI’s Jersey branch raised £3,793 for the Stroke Association and The Antoine Trust at its annual dinner

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