Being the Best at Carbon

Here at Carbon, one of our values is to be the best we can be. A big part of that is supporting our colleagues who are interested in progressing and help with the relevant qualifications, and 2023 has been a big year of exam success for our team.

Several of our Client Support team are making the first steps with their Diplomas in Regulated Financial Planning, with Finlay Wilson flying through 5 of the 6 exams required, and the last one booked for the end of January 2024. When reflecting on his progress over the last year, Finlay commented “my favourite exam was Financial Planning Practice (RO6) as it put the content from the other exams into context and gave me a snapshot of what financial planning will look like”. Daria Dolecka has also passed the notoriously tricky Tax and Trusts (RO3) with Investment Principles and Risk (RO2) due to be taken at the end of December. We have Rebecca tackling the double whammy of Financial Services, Regulation and Ethics (RO1) and Investment Principles and Risk (RO2) all in December, as well Stephanie getting her nose into her financial planning first textbook.

In Paraplanning, we have seen huge successes across both the Regulated Diploma and Advanced Diploma and major strides towards the pinnacle – Fellowship!

Darren McMillan has passed Personal Tax and Trust Planning (AF1), Trusts (J02), Advanced Financial Planning Practice (AF5) and is waiting on results for Retirement Income Planning (AF8) which will give him the Advanced Diploma in Regulated Financial Planning. Darren is clearly a glutton for punishment, and already has his sights set on fellowship. Scott has passed a mammoth 5 exams including Investment Planning (AF4), Discretionary Investment Management (J10), Securities Advice and Dealing (J12), Advanced Financial Planning Practice (AF5) and Financial Services Products and Solutions (LP2), earning him his Advanced Diploma and Chartered Status. Scott is a member of our Investment Team and explained “out of those exams I found AF4 the most interesting as it helped further my knowledge with Investment Planning”.

Ryan has completed Tax and Trusts (RO3), Pensions and Retirement Planning (RO4) and Financial Planning Practice (RO6) earning him his Diploma. When reflecting on his studies, Ryan commented he “enjoyed R03 as it had a fair bit of exposure to some areas which I lacked a bit of confidence on in paraplanning, namely trusts and their taxation, but after studying the unit I feel like I have a decent overview on trusts which will help me going forward.” Katie Young has passed Personal Tax and Trust Planning (AF1), Trusts (J02) and is working on Senior Management and Supervision (AF6). When reflecting on juggling her studies and busy home life, Katie commented “I don’t find studying particularly enjoyable if I’m being totally honest! But what I’ve really enjoyed is sitting the exams alongside colleagues who are doing them too, it makes the whole experience feel a bit less intimidating, and motivates me to work harder!”

Finally, our Financial Planning team has seen success with both Polly Reaves and Felicity Morris earning their Advanced Diplomas in Financial Planning and their chartered status after tackling Retirement Income Planning (AF8), Personal Tax and Trust Planning (AF1) and Financial Services Products and Solutions (LP2), and Dean McFarlane has passed Advanced Financial Planning Practice (AF5). We’ve also seen Mark Christie, Polly Reaves, Darren Less, John Bell and Matt Duncan all complete The Financial Wellbeing Certificate with the Institute for Financial Wellbeing¹. When reflecting about this process John commented “The IFW gave me a light-bulb moment when I realised we are on the right track and in fact there’s a small but growing community of eager financial planners and coaches who want to help people use their money to feel happier.”

Outside of Financial Planning, our operations team has seen success with Lesley Auld passing her Foundation Certificate in Accounting achieving a Distinction, and Suzanne Smith passing her Indirect Tax exam while juggling twins!

We love to celebrate successes at Carbon, particularly where our staff go above and beyond to improve themselves. Here’s to 2024!

¹The Institute for Financial Wellbeing | Improving financial wellbeing