“They’re basically saying mutual fund advisors, even if they’re going to continue to just offer MFDA products, are going to have to get this CPH licensing,” says John Waldron (pictured left), the Founder of Learnedly, a digital training and education platform for Canadian advisors. “And it really doesn’t make sense.”
Waldron says registrants required to take the course would be facing a significant cost burden. Part of the CPH course is already covered in MFDA advisors’ basic courses, and there are portions that are not directly relevant to this licensing category. He estimates the remaining material that might be applicable to an MFDA registrant would represent only a small proportion of the content.
“They’re asking the MFDA registrants to purchase the entire course, and to study and pass the entire course,” he says. “It’s like if you bought a plane ticket, and rather than giving you a pamphlet to learn the safety rules, the cabin crew told you to read the pilot’s manual.”
According to Waldron, the course costs $900 to take, making it disproportionately expensive for the marginal added knowledge an MFDA advisor would gain from it. Beyond the financial bite, he says the course is not written for MFDA registrants, which makes the material unpalatable to learners and creates the potential for non-compliance.
“For example, the course describes IIROC’s CE requirements for registrants, which are not the same as the MFDA’s CE requirements,” Waldron says. “That can create confusion and even resentment towards the content. As a registrant, you won’t even want to learn it.”
