Reviewed by Jose Joseph CFP®, founder of EBlink and a practising employee benefits consultant.
The CPD requirements for financial advisers in South Africa are simple to state but easy to fall behind on. Every year, key individuals and representatives must complete a set number of continuous professional development hours, keep proof, and be able to show it if asked.
This guide explains the CPD requirements in plain language: the cycle dates, how many hours you need, who must comply, what counts, and how to keep records that will stand up to scrutiny. It is written for employee benefits brokers and the practices that employ them.
What Are the CPD Requirements for Financial Advisers?
Continuous professional development, or CPD, is part of the fit and proper requirements that apply under the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act (FAIS). The aim is straightforward: people who give financial advice should keep their knowledge current.
The CPD requirements are set out in the fit and proper determination issued by the regulator, now the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA). The rules were introduced in Board Notice 194 of 2017, with the first CPD cycle starting on 1 June 2018.
In practice, the CPD requirements for financial advisers come down to four things:
- Completing the minimum number of verifiable CPD hours in each cycle
- Choosing activities that are relevant to the classes of business you are authorised for
- Keeping proof of every activity
- Having your FSP track and record compliance across the practice
Always check the current FSCA notices for the latest wording, because the regulator can amend the requirements.
The CPD Cycle: 1 June to 31 May
CPD hours are measured over a 12-month cycle that runs from 1 June to 31 May of the following year.
This matters because CPD does not follow the calendar year or the tax year. Many advisers only remember CPD in May, when the cycle is about to close. Our guide to FAIS CPD tracking explains how to avoid that end-of-May panic.
If you become subject to the CPD requirements partway through a cycle, for example because you were newly appointed as a representative, a proportionate requirement applies for that first cycle.
How Many CPD Hours Do You Need?
The number of hours depends on the scope of your authorisation. Based on the requirements as published, the minimums per cycle are:
- 6 hours if you are authorised for a single subclass within a single class of business.
- 12 hours if you are authorised for more than one subclass within a single class of business.
- 18 hours if you are authorised for more than one class of business.
Many employee benefits brokers advise on several product types, such as long-term insurance subclasses and health service benefits, so 12 or 18 hours is common. Check your FSP’s licence and your own appointment to confirm which band applies to you.
Who Must Meet the CPD Requirements?
The CPD requirements apply to key individuals and representatives of a financial services provider.
There are exemptions and special cases. For example, some activities and roles are treated differently, and advisers who hold a professional designation may be able to meet the CPD requirements through their professional body’s CPD programme where it is recognised. Confirm your own position with your compliance officer.
The FSP itself also has duties. It must monitor whether its key individuals and representatives are meeting the CPD requirements and keep records that show it.
What Counts as CPD?
To count towards the CPD requirements, an activity must be relevant and verifiable. Relevant activities generally include:
- Training on the financial products and classes of business you advise on
- Regulatory and legislative updates, such as changes to FAIS, FICA, POPIA or the Pension Funds Act
- Ethics and treating customers fairly
- Industry seminars, webinars and accredited courses
Verifiable means there is evidence you completed the activity, such as a certificate or proof of attendance that shows the date, the provider and the number of hours. Reading an article on your own, without any verification, will not usually count.
How to Keep CPD Records That Stand Up to Scrutiny
Good records are as important as the hours themselves. For each CPD activity, keep:
- The name of the activity and the provider
- The date and the number of hours
- The certificate or proof of completion
- The class or subclass of business it relates to
Store these in one place, not scattered across email inboxes. At practice level, keep a register showing each representative’s hours against their requirement, so you can see who is on track and who is falling behind.
Our article on employee benefits compliance in South Africa covers how CPD fits alongside your other obligations.
What Happens If You Miss Your CPD Requirements?
Not meeting the CPD requirements is a fit and proper issue. The consequences can be serious, because an FSP may not allow a representative who does not meet fit and proper requirements to continue rendering financial services.
The safest approach is to treat CPD as a year-round task rather than a May deadline. Plan your hours at the start of the cycle and check progress every quarter.
A Simple CPD Plan for the Year
Here is a practical way to spread the CPD requirements across the cycle:
- June: confirm your hour requirement and list the activities you plan to complete.
- September: aim to have about a quarter of your hours done.
- December: check progress and book any courses for the new year.
- March: aim to have most hours completed, with proof filed.
- May: confirm the total, file the last certificates and close the cycle.
For a practice, run the same plan for every representative and review the register at each checkpoint.
How a Broker CRM Helps With CPD Requirements
Tracking CPD in a spreadsheet works until you have several representatives, different hour requirements and a cycle that closes on 31 May.
A broker CRM built for South African practices can keep CPD hours alongside your other regulatory obligations. In EBlink, CPD sits in the same regulatory suite as FAIS licence conditions, CDD/FICA checks and Section 14 transfers, with deadlines surfaced most urgent first and approval by a principal built in.
That means principals can see at a glance who is on track, and representatives can log activities as they complete them instead of hunting for certificates in May.
CPD Requirements for Employee Benefits Brokers: Practical Examples
Employee benefits brokers often advise across several areas at once. Useful CPD activities for this kind of practice include:
- Updates on group risk products, such as changes to disability definitions or free cover limits
- Medical scheme developments, including benefit option changes and regulatory updates from the Council for Medical Schemes
- Retirement fund matters, such as the two-pot system, Section 14 transfers and Section 37C death benefit distribution
- Regulatory training on FAIS, FICA and POPIA
- Ethics, conflicts of interest and treating customers fairly
Choose activities that match the classes of business you are authorised for. Hours spent on topics outside your authorisation may not count towards your CPD requirements.
CPD and Professional Designations
Many advisers hold a professional designation, such as CFP® through the Financial Planning Institute of Southern Africa. Professional bodies run their own CPD programmes, and in some cases these can help you meet the FAIS CPD requirements as well.
Do not assume that one set of hours automatically covers both. Check with your professional body and your compliance officer how the two programmes interact, and keep separate evidence where needed.
Building a CPD Policy for Your Practice
An FSP should not leave CPD to each individual. A short written CPD policy helps everyone understand what is expected. It should cover:
- Who in the practice is subject to the CPD requirements and how many hours each person needs
- How activities are approved as relevant to each person’s authorisation
- Where certificates and proof must be stored
- How progress is reviewed, and by whom
- What happens if someone is at risk of missing the deadline
Review the policy each year when the new cycle starts on 1 June. Linking it to your wider practice management routine, as described in our practice management guide, makes it far easier to keep on track.
Common Mistakes With CPD Requirements
Most CPD problems come from small habits rather than a lack of effort. Watch out for these:
- Leaving everything until May. Courses fill up and certificates take time to arrive. Spread your hours across the cycle.
- Losing proof. An activity without a certificate or attendance record may not count. File proof as soon as you receive it.
- Choosing irrelevant topics. Hours must relate to the classes of business you are authorised for.
- Not tracking new appointments. When a new representative joins mid-cycle, a proportionate requirement applies. Set it up on day one.
- No central register. If each adviser keeps their own records, the FSP cannot easily prove compliance. Keep one register for the whole practice.
- Forgetting the key individual. Key individuals have CPD requirements too, and their hours are often overlooked while they manage everyone else’s.
Fixing these habits is mostly about visibility. When everyone can see their hours against their requirement, gaps get closed long before the deadline.
How CPD Fits With Your Other Fit and Proper Requirements
CPD is one part of the wider fit and proper framework. The others include honesty and integrity, competence (qualifications, experience and regulatory examinations), and operational ability and financial soundness at FSP level.
For a busy practice, it helps to track all of these in one system rather than in separate files. That way, a representative’s appointment date, qualifications, regulatory exam status and CPD hours sit together, and nothing is missed when the FSCA asks for evidence.
CPD Requirements FAQs
Do CPD hours carry over to the next cycle?
Plan as if they do not. Each cycle stands on its own, so complete your full requirement within the 1 June to 31 May period. Check the current FSCA requirements if you think an exception may apply to you.
Can I count in-house training?
In-house training can count if it is relevant and verifiable. Make sure there is a record of attendance, the content covered and the hours, just as you would for an external course.
Who checks whether I met my CPD requirements?
Your FSP must monitor compliance and keep records. The FSCA can ask for evidence, so the FSP should be able to show each representative’s hours and proof at any time.
CPD Requirements Checklist
- Confirm whether you need 6, 12 or 18 hours this cycle
- Plan activities relevant to your classes of business
- Keep a certificate or proof of attendance for every activity
- Record hours against the correct class or subclass
- Review progress every quarter
- Close the cycle well before 31 May
Example: One Practice’s CPD Year
Consider a practice with a key individual and three representatives, each authorised for more than one class of business, so each needs 18 hours per cycle.
In June, the key individual lists the activities each person plans to complete, such as product training from two insurers, a regulatory update on FAIS and POPIA, and an ethics webinar. Each representative books their first activities straight away.
At each quarterly check, the practice reviews the register. In December, one representative is behind, with only four hours logged, so additional sessions are booked for January and February. By the end of March, everyone has at least 15 hours. The remaining hours are completed in April, and the cycle closes in early May with every certificate filed.
Nothing in this example is complicated. The difference is that the practice planned early and checked progress regularly.
Final Thoughts
The CPD requirements for financial advisers are manageable when you plan early and keep good records. Treat CPD as part of running your practice, not as a once-a-year rush.
To see how EBlink keeps CPD, FAIS and FICA in one place, explore the features or start a free 30-day trial. For an overview of the whole platform, visit our employee benefits CRM home page.