Successfully completing a Certificate in Mortgage Advice and Practice (CeMAP) is a significant achievement. Advisers spend many hours studying for the qualification in order to ensure they pass the exam that will set them on the path of their chosen career.

However, achieving CeMap is only half the battle. Before advisers can even begin to work with clients, give advice or recommend products, they will also need to have achieved Competent Adviser Status (CAS) enabling them to provide advice and submit mortgage applications and any relevant protection without supervision.

The need for CAS status is a compulsory requirement across the entire financial services sector and ensures every adviser is able to meet the regulatory requirements and practical skills needed to successfully carry out their role.

Achieving competency status can be difficult however, and is not something that advisers can do alone as they need to be assessed, supervised and receive sign-off from a senior professional during various stages of the CAS assessment process.

This means that newly-qualified advisers will need to find a mentor and firm with an academy structure that can help guide them through the CAS process by enabling them to access the training and coaching they need to build up their experience and knowledge, as well as meet the regulatory demands required to achieve competency status.

One of the ways in which advisers can work towards achieving CAS, is by joining The Right Mortgage & Protection Network’s appointed representative firm, The Right Advice, which enables them to progress through the Non-CAS Training Academy and work their way up to CAS status.

One of the many benefits of training with an academy is it provides easy access to lead generation and a steady stream of clients which are often available via retiring and semi-retiring advisers.

Generating leads and establishing a client bank is not an easy task. Many advisers spend a great deal of time and effort over the years building and forging strong relationships with their clients, so having the ability to tap into this resource from the outset is an invaluable tool.

An additional benefit is that many established advisers operating within The Right Advice’s retirement arm, The Right Retirement, will be working towards their retirement strategy and will be looking for new advisers to take on their mantle.

This enables newly qualified advisers to build up a client bank right from the start while also reassuring retiring or semi-retiring advisers that their clients will be in safe and competent hands when their working days are long behind them.

This is an extremely beneficial arrangement for both parties as it provides a seamless transition from working full-time to retiring for the outgoing adviser, while also rewarding them with a passive income.

It also offers peace of mind that the needs of those clients they have worked so hard to cater for over the course of their career will be met with the continuity of care and service offered by the ‘next generation’ of advisers.

Achieving CAS status is no easy task, but for those newly-qualified advisers joining the mortgage industry, as well as those at the end of their career, being part of an established AR network can provide the training and support they need at every stage of their career, while also ensuring the needs and demands of their clients will always be met.