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The FPA today announced that Platinum Asset Management (Platinum), together with the Neilson Foundation will offer a scholarship to undergraduate students majoring in financial planning as part of their degree.
The scholarships will be offered through five Australian universities; Deakin, LaTrobe, Canberra, Western Sydney and Wollongong, and will commence at the beginning of the 2014 academic year. The scholarships offered will be for approximately 20 students annually at $15,000 per student. Platinum will also offer prizes for outstanding academic achievement.
In order to be considered, a student must be studying full time and major in financial planning. The scholarship will therefore typically be awarded to a second and/or third year undergraduate, as this is the time when students are most likely to start a major in financial planning.
Speaking about Platinum’s and The Neilson Foundation’s decision to offer the scholarship, Liz Norman, Director of Communications and Investor Services for Platinum, said that the aim was to incentivise students who are passionate about financial planning and who have aspirations to a long term career in the industry.
“We recognise the vital role that financial planners play not only in our business but the investment management community generally, and we see this scholarship as a way of supporting the efforts of the FPA to raise educational standards and encourage new talent into the industry.
“Full time studying can impose a significant financial burden on students, so we wanted to find a way to lessen the load. Recipients of the scholarship will be able to spend the money they receive in ways that will best help them reach their goal of becoming a financial planner,” she said.
Mark Rantall, CEO of the FPA, said that
“Raising the educational and professional standards of financial planners is a very clear focus for the FPA community. That is why we were so pleased to launch the National Accreditation and Curriculum Framework for financial planning degrees in November last year. The framework created a clear relationship between academia and the financial planning profession, and gave universities a clear understanding of the high standards of learning and graduate outcomes expected of financial planners.
“We believe that these scholarships will help cement and uphold those standards by rewarding promising and passionate students who are committed to a career in financial planning,” he said.
Mr Rantall concluded by thanking Platinum for its support of the financial planning profession and highlighted the broader significance of the scholarship.
“Australians have the right to feel confident in the educational qualifications and competence of people who call themselves financial planners; and this scholarship will help encourage talented future financial planners,” he said.