Approved IAR CE Courses

The course will provide context into historical rates, including the relatively low interest ratesover the last 10 years and the recent increase in interest rates. Next, students will learn how risinginterest rates will impact securities prices. This section will examine risk measurements andvaluation techniques for both stocks and bonds. The final section of the course will cover ethicalconsiderations and adjusting recommendations to clients during periods of rising interest rates.

This course is designed to enhance the knowledge, understanding, and professional competence of the student as to applicable laws and rules, including recent changes in consumer suitability regulations; law and the duties and responsibilities of the licensee regarding consumer protectionand insurance ethical standards and requirements, including "fiduciary" responsibilities and the"best interest" standard.

This course equips advisors with the principles, strategies, and tools needed to maintain the highest standards of integrity in every client interaction. Participants will explore the foundations of ethical communication, identify common challenges, and learn how to tailor messaging to individual client needs. The course covers topics such as cultural sensitivity, managing communication during market volatility, leveraging technology responsibly, and fostering a culture of transparency and accountability. This course offers essential guidance to help advisors excel in ethical client communication while enhancing professional credibility and client loyalty.

This course will focus on the ethical issues in the sales process. Although its principal attention will be directed to an examination of the ethical concerns encountered in sales in the senior market, the principles developed apply equally to all prospects and clients. Furthermore, while many of the specific ethical breaches examined relate to the sale of insurance and other financial products, the underlying ethical principles also apply to the sale of other products.

In this course, students will learn the basic concepts of modern portfolio theory, which provides ajustification for using complex investment products. After introducing diversification of risk andncorrelated returns, the course will provide examples of complex investment products. Then thecourse will present the fiduciary duties of investment advisers established under the InvesementAdvisers Act of 1940. In this section, we'll also review an SEC Risk Management Alert for advisers of private fund. In addition, several examples of ethical violations involving complex products will beexamined.

The primary goal of the course is to teach students about an adviser's fiduciary responsibility and the requirement to create and implement a code of ethics. The course will also review some hypothetical situations and how advisers can handle them ethically. These situations include conflicts of interest regarding fees, explaining investment risks, trading authorizations, and ethical issues regarding initial public offerings (IPOs).

This foundational course begins with a look at ethical issues facing the securities industry,i.e., conflicts of interest, and briefly defines ethical standards and why they are important.This course covers the common types of conflicts, and the steps investment adviser(IARs) can take to prevent potential regulatory problems and sanctions as well as theassociated loss of client goodwill.