FE Analytics Academy

richallum

Has anyone done the courses and got the paraplanner accreditation yet?  Details here.  We use it a lot and I like the look of this.  If there's enough interest we might be able to get a bulk deal done with them.

Nathan

Forgive me for being synical, but this is essentially charging its users for training. Personally, I feel for the price we pay each year training of how to use it should be included? 

richallum

fair point Nathan.  They do provide some free training, we've had some.  I imagine there's an issue of cross subsidy - your monthly fee includes some free training but if you don't need it and someone else needs hours worth it's not really workable.

We're going to give it a go and will report back on value etc.

benjaminfabi

I quite like the idea of becoming FE Certified. If we're linking in to things that add value (even perceived) then I can see an advantage to this from a business owner/recruiter perspective. And it is a lot less expensive than some other skills courses. 

DanAtkinsonUK

I'm with @Nathan ; on this. We have several logins as a firm and disappointed that this isn't part of the package. Will be interesting to see what you think though @richallum ;

WoollyDragon

Has anybody completed this yet? 

I'm really interested in giving it a go but need to justify the expense to my boss. Considering paying for it myself but I don't have a personal log in do would have to do it on company premises/time which isn't ideal.

Price list is here: http://www.financialexpress.net/the-fe-academy

Jamie_Barnes

The exam on its own is £50 so i've decided to fund it out of my own pocket - anyone that uses it on a daily basis will pass it without needing the extra sessions. Whether it actually takes off or not is a good question, but they're meant to be developing it so that there will be specialisations for DFMs, paraplanners, wealth managers etc.

WoollyDragon

Thanks @Jamie.

Do you think going through the modules would be beneficial for new paraplanners? or those that haven't used FE before?

amarshall

I think this is a bit cheeky!

I have attended training from them before for free (and have more booked in for tomorrow) so why I would pay for it, I don't know.

I can see why a paraplanner might want to be able to state that they are a certified user if they're looking for a new job but otherwise, it seems worthless to me. 

Jamie_Barnes

I tend to agree asmarshall. @WoollyDragon ; , to be honest i couldn't possibly say. My reasoning for just buying the exam and doing it on my own is based on past experiences at two 'advanced' FE user sessions where at the first one I knew more than the person presenting, and at the second the presenter suggested I join FE!

I think the point that was made about firms paying a lot of money for licenses, and then having to pay for this, is very important but it does look like FE are trying to branch out into other ways of making money, and you can't exactly blame them for that.

WoollyDragon

Thank you for your help @Jamie_Barnes and @amarshall .

Perhaps it's not worth a look after all. My line manager is aware of the Academy and it's up to them to decide now. 

richallum

I've contacted FE to see if they'd be interested in doing a special course/discount for Powwow.  Will let you know.