New CPD accreditation mark launches

As a member of a network ( The Money Group ), our network takes care of making sure our CPD is compliant. This new accreditation would be of little use to us, unless it is implemented at a network level.

A positive step. The accreditation mark's usefulness depends on its industry recognition. Many professionals have been advocating for ongoing education in the mortgage industry due to its dynamic nature. Additional education could include advanced mortgage techniques, regulatory updates, communication skills, technology training, ethics, and market analysis.

I believe as an industry we can do more to ensure CPD plays a bigger role in our work. I am pleased to see The Society of Mortgage Professionals has taken this step to raise the bar, we should all follow suit.

At Simply Lending we took steps 18 months ago to improve our CPD records by auditing our files quarterly and ensuring that we pay close attention to the content and source material in a CPD log. My advisers often ask me for new and relevant material, and perhaps this accreditation is an opportunity for our business to improve again.

What the Society of Mortgage Professionals have done is the first step, regulated firms must be willing to explore the opportunity to improve for the industry to be better off in the end.

Only the serious advisers will go for this. Any of the 'have a go Harry's' will not bother and clients don't really think about it that deeply. Its worth it for the CPD and the courses on offer, but it's not worth it to try and stand out from the crowd just to have some extra letters after your name.