iShares has launched a new course to help financial advisers with their CPD, accredited by the Institute of Financial Planning.
The topic of the course is exchange traded funds as iShares, an IFP sponsor, is the ETF platform for asset management firm Blackrock.
The course has three separate 30 minute modules which cover an overview of ETFs, their relevance for financial advisers, different ETF structures, how to choose the most suitable ETF and how to implement them in a portfolio.
A recent survey by Skandia found two thirds of advisers did not understand synthetic ETFs and over half did not understand asset-based ETFs.
The course is accredited by the Institute of Financial Planning and the CII and is worth 0.5 CPD hours and 20 CPD credits for each module.

David Gardner, head of sales for iShares EMEA, said: "An immediate priority for many advisers is to identify and address any gaps in their qualifications, since these must be filled by the end of the year.
"ETFs are among the most regulated and most transparent investment vehicles available today and many advisers are finding them a timely and cost effective way to access markets and implement asset allocation decisions. In our view the RDR will create greater interest in passive investment vehicles and in ETFs."
The new course is part of a collection of materials which the firm has built up to support advisers.