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PRESS RELEASE: IFPHK and Estate Planning Practitioners (Hong Kong) Limited Signed MOU to Cultivate Estate Planning Talents in the Territory

(Hong Kong – 21 September 2022) To step up efforts to cultivate trust and estate planning talents, the Institute of Financial Planners of Hong Kong (IFPHK) and Estate Planning Practitioners (Hong Kong) Limited (EPPLHK) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) earlier this week, offering training opportunities to skilled financial planners in Hong Kong.

The Estate Planning Practitioners Limited is the body which promotes estate planning as a professional practice throughout Asia via training, seminars, conferences and exchange of ideas. The Associate Estate Planning Practitioner (AEPP®) designation is awarded by EPPL based in Singapore. It is authorized by the Society of Will Writers and Estate Planning Practitioners (SWWEPP), United Kingdom. There are over 6,000 designees in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and now planning to extend its member scale to Hong Kong.

Leveraging IFPHK’s professional position in the financial planning education, together with EPPL’s extensive experience in estate planning and consultation in South East Asia, the parties collaborate on a new qualification, namely, Associate Estate Planning Practitioner (AEPP®) Certification Program, that will cultivate local talent such as financial planners, wealth managers, family office professionals for essential succession and estate/legacy planning knowledge.

Under the MOU, EPPLHK will be responsible for designing course contents to help industry practitioners with gaining first-hand experience of estate planning knowledge. As the exclusive education provider partner, IFPHK will be delivering the trainings in a structural way via e-learning platform and virtual class coordination.

At the MOU signing ceremony, Mr. Dennis Lau, CEO, IFPHK remarked, “It’s our honour to work with EPPLHK to cultivate future estate planning professionals in Hong Kong. The collaboration with EPPLHK marks a further milestone for IFPHK, allowing us to strengthen a connection with an international institution in our financial services professional network. In view of the rising demand for trust / estate planning professionals, this partnership plays a significant role in enhancing our talent pool to support the fast-growing financial services industry. We look forward to supporting more academic-business
exchange and collaborations.”

EPPLHK’s Director Ms Cindy Wong added, “As part of EPPLHK’s strategy, this partnership demonstrates our deep commitment to cultivate future estate planning talents in Hong Kong to meet the growing needs in wealth transition and succession planning. We believe that through the AEPP® certification program the financial professionals will be well equipped to engage with their clients effectively to create holistic solutions and sustainable client relationships. We emphasize putting knowledge to practice and aims to support the AEPP® designees with trust advisory services to apply what they have learned and enhance their value proposition.”

This new programme focuses on the practical application of a holistic approach in the wealth accumulation, preservation, and transition for the high-net-worth individuals. The financial professionals will find themselves well positioned to add value to the high-net-worth clients who are seeking an array of expertise to address their high-priority concern of passing down wealth.

Public registration for the first intake of Associate Estate Planning Practitioner (AEPP®) Certification Program will open in the first quarter of 2023. The course consists of a total of 12 training hours in an online mode with a hybrid format, comprising 6 hours of pre-recorded videos and 6 hours of live webinar. These videos will be accessible via FPLearning, the brand-new eLearning platform of IFPHK. Approximately one week after the viewing period, the 6-hour live webinar will be scheduled for an interactive session with the trainer.

Curriculum of the AEPP® Certification Program (Hong Kong)

Topic 1: Family Inheritance (1.5 hours)
Topic 2: Basic and Process of Wealth Planning (1 hour)
Topic 3: Family Business (2 hours)
Topic 4: Family Wealth (1 hour)
Topic 5: Family Members (0.5 hour)
Topic 6: Dynamic Solutions of Wealth Planning (6 hours)

Upon completion of the course and passing the exam, the participants will be given the eligibility to apply for the AEPP® designation. They will also be included in the directory of designees where their profile will be searchable online.

For more details on the AEPP® Certification Program in Hong Kong, please contact Ms. Chris Lam, Senior Manager, Professional Development and Training, IFPHK at chrislam@ifphk.org.

EPPL (Hong Kong)’s Director Ms Cindy Wong (Left) and IFPHK’s Chief Executive Officer Mr. Dennis Lau sign a collaboration agreement.

About IFPHK

IFPHK was established in June 2000 as a non-profit professional organization. It aims to be recognised in the region as a premier professional body representing financial planners dedicated to upholding the highest professional standards for the benefit of the public. The Institute is the sole licensing professional body in Hong Kong authorised by the Financial Planning Standards Board Limited in the US to grant CFP® certification and AFP® certification to qualified financial planning professionals in Hong Kong and Macau. Currently, there are more than 203,000 CFP certificants in 26 countries/regions; the majority of these professionals are in the U.S., Canada, China, Australia and Japan, and approximately 4,100 CFP certificants are in Hong Kong. It represents more than 7,400 financial planning practitioners in Hong Kong, including 1,200 Qualified Retirement Adviser. They are from such diverse professional backgrounds as banking, insurance, independent financial advisory, stockbroking, accounting, and legal services.

For Media Enquiries

Ms. Agnes Lee Tel : (852) 2982 7875 Email : agneslee@ifphk.org
Ms. Cally Wong Tel : (852) 2982 7863 Email : callistawong@ifphk.org

香港財務策劃師學會與 EPPL (香港)簽署合作備忘錄培育本地遺產策劃人才

(香港 – 2022 年 9 月 21 日）為加強培養信託及遺產規劃人才，香港財務策劃師學會（IFPHK）與遺產規劃師（香港）有限公司（EPPLHK）近日簽署諒解備忘錄，為香港資深財務策劃師提供進修增值機會。

EPPL 總部設於新加坡，通過培訓、研討會、會議和意見交流，在全亞洲推廣遺產規劃專業。AEPP®認證是由 EPPL 授予的，並得到英國的遺囑撰寫者和遺產規劃從業者協會（SWWEPP）授權。在新加坡、馬來西亞、印尼有超過 6,000 名持證人，EPPL 正計劃擴展其會員規模到香港。

憑藉學會在財務策劃教育的專業地位，以及 EPPL 在東南亞地區豐富的遺產規劃和諮詢經驗，雙方將合作於本港推出一項全新的資格認證 – Associate Estate Planning Practitioner (AEPP®) 教育課程，培育本地人才，如財務策劃師、財富經理、家族辦公室專員等，並傳授基本繼承和遺產/遺產規劃知識。

根據諒解備忘錄，EPPL (香港) 負責設計課程內容，確保學員獲得遺產規劃知識的第一手經驗。作為獨家教育合作夥伴，香港財務策劃師學會將為學員提供多元靈活的培訓方式，例如電子學習及網絡研討會。

香港財務策劃師學會行政總裁劉振輝先生在簽署儀式上表示：「我們很榮幸能與EPPL(香港) 合作，為香港培育未來的遺產策劃專才。與 EPPLHK 的合作，是學會另一個里程碑，使我們加強與金融服務業網路中的國際機構的聯繫。鑒於對信託及遺產規劃專才的需求不斷增加，這種夥伴關係加強我們的人才庫，在支持快速增長的金融服務業方面發揮了重要作用。我們期待著支持更多的學術/商業交流和合作。」

EPPL (香港) 董事黃素敏女士補充說：「作為 EPPLHK 策略的一部分，這次合作表明了我們對培養香港未來的遺產規劃人才的深切承諾，以滿足日益增長的財富轉移及管理繼承的需求。我們相信 AEPP認證課程能夠使金融業專業人士更好的裝備自己，以便為客戶提供更全面完善的解決方案，建立可持續的客戶關係。我們強調專業知識的實用性，致力透過為 AEPP持證人提供的專用信託諮詢服務讓他們學以致用，提升他們自己的競爭力。」

AEPP®課程重點是為高淨值人士規劃財富積累、保存和過渡方面的整體方法及實際應用。高淨值客戶對財富傳承高度重視，金融專業人士亦擔當最合適的角色為此類客戶提供一系列專業知識。

Associate Estate Planning Practitioner (AEPP®)認證首個公開課程將於 2023 年第一季度接受報名。該課程共有 12 課時，採用混合模式，包括 6 小時的預錄視頻和 6 小時的現場網路研討會。這些視頻將通過 IFPHK 全新電子學習平臺 FPLearning 獲取。在觀看期結束後大約一周，學會將安排 6 小時的現場網路研討會，與講師進行互動交流。

AEPP®認證課程（香港）的課程大綱

主題 1：家庭繼承（1.5 小時）
主題 2：財富規劃的基本和過程（1 小時）
專題 3：家族企業（2 小時）
議題 4：家庭財富（1 小時）
主題 5：家庭成員（0.5 小時）
主題 6：財富規劃的動態解決方案（6 小時）

完成課程並通過考試後，學員將獲得申請 AEPP®認證的資格。他們還將被列入持證人名冊，公眾可以在網上瀏覽其認證資料。

有關 AEPP®認證課程之詳情，請以電郵方式 (chrislam@ifphk.org) 聯繫香港財務策劃師學會專業發展及培訓部高級經理林沛欣女士。

EPPL(香港)董事黃素敏女士 (左) 與 IFPHK 行政總裁劉振輝先生 (右) 簽署合作協定

香港財務策劃師學會簡介

香港財務策劃師學會於 2000 年 6 月以非牟利專業學會之形式成立，宗旨是代表財務策劃師成為區域首要的專業學會，並致力提高財務策劃的專業標準，以裨益公眾。學會獲得美國的財務策劃標準制定局授權為唯一可以在香港及澳門頒發 CFP® 資格認證及 AFP® 資格認證的專業學會。現時全球有超過 203,000 名 CFP 持證人，分佈於 26 個國家或地區，其中以美國、加拿大、中國、澳洲及日本佔大多數，而香港則有接近 4,100 名 CFP 持證人。作為香港財務策劃界的代表，學會現有會員共有超過 7,400 名，包括 1,200 名核准退休顧問持有人。會員來自不同的專業背景，如銀行、保險、獨立理財顧問、股票買賣、會計及法律等。