Budding paraplanners and financial advisers are being offered access to qualification courses through the University of Derby following a new partnership with the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (CISI).
The University of Derby is the first CISI partner university to offer CISI qualifications to students in three of its global online learning courses.
The university will be providing sponsorship for students to study for the CISI Level 3 Introduction to Investment or the equivalent international version before they finish their degree.
The courses that have been accredited by the CISI to offer this qualification are:
BA (Hons) Management Accounting (top up)
BA (Hons) Accounting & Finance (top up)
Masters in Finance
Patrick Connolly, head of communication at Chase de Vere, said any young person who wants to enter the financial advice sector will benefit from having a foundation qualification.
He said: "We do take on trainee advisers and we are looking for them on a regular basis. They’re not specifically graduates, but they tend to be young people.
"Career progression is huge and bringing on trainee advisers is a big thing we do. If they have done foundation training and shown an interest and a commitment to the industry, that is a good starting point."
Kevin Moore, global business development director at the CISI, said the tie-up was "exactly the support the students need to gain a competitive edge for their careers".
He said: "We are unified in our commitment to enhancing employability, by equipping the next generation of talented graduates for work in the ever evolving, fast paced world of financial services."
Matt Bromley, academic manager in the University of Derby online learning department, added: "This will have a great impact on our student community and expose our learners to the wider professional network."
The University will also be funding scholarships for the following two campus taught programmes: BSc (Hons) Finance and BSc (Hons) Economics and Finance.
CISI student membership is also part of this deal for graduates who will be able to access CISI’s continuing professional development (CPD) platform featuring 120 professional development e-learning modules.
