Chartered Wealth Manager Course

Lesson 1 • The Wealth Advisory Value Chain

Maps the end-to-end process from client acquisition to ongoing service delivery. Understanding this chain frames how technical skills integrate into practice.

Lesson 2 • The Wealth Management Profession

Defines wealth management, its historical evolution, and its position within financial services. Provides context for all subsequent technical and advisory content.

Lesson 3 • Regulatory and Ethical Framework

Covers fiduciary duty, suitability standards, and conduct obligations that govern wealth advisors. Ethical grounding is prerequisite to all client-facing modules.

Lesson 4 • Client Segmentation and Profiling

Introduces high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth client categories and their distinct needs. Segmentation skills underpin every client engagement strategy covered later.

Lesson 1 • Personal Financial Statements

Teaches construction and interpretation of balance sheets and cash flow statements for individuals. These statements are the analytical foundation for all planning recommendations.

Lesson 2 • Debt Management and Credit Planning

Analyses debt structures, repayment strategies, and credit optimisation for wealthy clients. Effective debt management directly improves net worth trajectory.

Lesson 3 • Insurance and Risk Transfer Basics

Introduces risk identification and the role of insurance in protecting financial plans. Risk transfer is a prerequisite concept for estate and retirement planning chapters.

Lesson 4 • Goal-Based Financial Planning

Introduces the goal-based planning methodology and priority-setting frameworks. Aligning goals to resources is the central skill of comprehensive financial planning.

Lesson 1 • Derivatives and Structured Products

Explains options, futures, and structured notes as hedging and return-enhancement tools. Understanding derivatives is prerequisite to advanced risk management modules.

Lesson 2 • Fixed Income Markets and Instruments

Examines bond structures, yield measures, and interest rate sensitivity. Fixed income knowledge is essential for liability-matching and income-oriented portfolios.

Lesson 3 • Core Investment Principles

Establishes risk, return, and diversification as the pillars of investment theory. These principles govern every portfolio construction decision in subsequent chapters.

Lesson 4 • Equity Markets and Instruments

Covers ordinary and preference shares, equity indices, and valuation approaches. Equity analysis skills are applied directly in portfolio construction and manager selection.

Lesson 1 • Strategic Asset Allocation

Covers long-term asset mix determination using mean-variance optimisation and liability-relative approaches. Strategic allocation drives the majority of portfolio return outcomes.

Lesson 2 • Investment Policy Statement Design

Guides creation of a formal investment policy statement capturing objectives, constraints, and governance. The IPS is the governing document for all portfolio decisions.

Lesson 3 • Portfolio Performance Measurement

Teaches return calculation, attribution, and risk-adjusted performance metrics. Performance measurement closes the portfolio management loop and informs future decisions.

Lesson 4 • Manager Selection and Due Diligence

Develops a framework for evaluating active and passive investment managers. Rigorous due diligence protects clients from manager risk and style drift.

Lesson 1 • Income Tax Fundamentals

Reviews progressive tax structures, deductions, and credits relevant to high-income individuals. Income tax literacy is the baseline for all tax optimisation strategies.

Lesson 2 • Tax-Advantaged Account Structures

Examines retirement accounts, education savings vehicles, and tax-deferred wrappers. Proper account structuring amplifies long-term wealth accumulation significantly.

Lesson 3 • Business Owner Tax Considerations

Addresses entity selection, pass-through taxation, and compensation structuring for business-owning clients. Business owners represent a major high-net-worth client segment.

Lesson 4 • International Tax Concepts

Introduces residency, domicile, and cross-border income taxation for globally mobile clients. International tax awareness prevents costly compliance failures for affluent clients.

Lesson 1 • Charitable Planning Strategies

Introduces donor-advised funds, charitable trusts, and private foundations as planning tools. Charitable strategies simultaneously achieve philanthropic and tax efficiency goals.

Lesson 2 • Gift Strategies and Transfer Taxes

Covers annual exclusion gifting, lifetime exemptions, and generation-skipping strategies. Proactive gifting reduces taxable estates and accelerates intergenerational wealth transfer.

Lesson 3 • Estate Planning Fundamentals

Defines the estate planning process, key documents, and the role of the wealth advisor. Foundational knowledge enables advisors to coordinate with legal and tax specialists.

Lesson 4 • Business Succession Planning

Addresses ownership transfer, buy-sell agreements, and family business continuity. Succession planning is critical for clients whose wealth is concentrated in a business.

Lesson 1 • Retirement Needs Analysis

Quantifies retirement income requirements using replacement rate and expense-based methods. Accurate needs analysis is the starting point for every retirement strategy.

Lesson 2 • Social Security and Pension Optimisation

Analyses claiming strategies for government retirement benefits and defined benefit pensions. Optimal claiming decisions can add significant lifetime income for clients.

Lesson 3 • Accumulation Strategies and Vehicles

Covers employer-sponsored plans, individual accounts, and non-qualified savings for retirement. Diversifying accumulation vehicles maximises tax efficiency across the wealth lifecycle.

Lesson 4 • Decumulation and Withdrawal Strategies

Examines systematic withdrawal, bucket, and floor-and-upside frameworks for income distribution. Decumulation strategy directly determines portfolio sustainability in retirement.

Lesson 1 • Wealth Management Practice Management

Covers business development, service model design, and team structure for advisory practices. Practice management skills enable advisors to build sustainable, scalable businesses.

Lesson 2 • Liquidity Event Planning

Prepares advisors to guide clients through business sales, IPOs, and large inheritance events. Pre-event planning maximises after-tax proceeds and prevents reactive decision-making.

Lesson 3 • Family Governance and Wealth Continuity

Covers family council structures, investment policy for family entities, and multi-generational communication. Governance frameworks protect wealth across generational transitions.

Lesson 4 • Holistic Wealth Plan Integration

Synthesises financial planning, investment, tax, estate, and retirement modules into one coherent plan. Integration is the defining competency of a chartered wealth manager.