25796 Personal Wealth Management

Warning: The information on this page is indicative. The subject outline for a particular session, location and mode of offering is the authoritative source of all information about the subject for that offering. Required texts, recommended texts and references in particular are likely to change. Students will be provided with a subject outline once they enrol in the subject.

Subject handbook information prior to 2024 is available in the Archives.

UTS: Business: Finance
Credit points: 6 cp

Subject level:

Postgraduate

Result type: Grade and marks

Requisite(s): 25721 Investment Management
These requisites may not apply to students in certain courses.
There are course requisites for this subject. See access conditions.

Description

In this subject students study the investment and financial issues arising from the management of personal wealth. They examine the structure of the Australian financial planning industry and analyse the most important components of wealth management:

setting financial plans
budgeting and taxation planning
investment planning and strategies (including managed funds)
risk management and insurance
home ownership and property investment
superannuation and social security
leveraged investments
retirement planning
estate planning.

The subject is designed to provide students with the ability to develop and manage the financial plans of clients in a way that meets their specific goals and long-term objectives.

Subject learning objectives (SLOs)

Upon successful completion of this subject students should be able to:

1.	evaluate the critical elements involved in developing and managing a personal financial plan including the range of products, services, and securities available to individuals
2.	develop financial plans that meet the needs and wealth management objectives of different individuals
3.	understand the ethical, regulatory and legal environments in which personal wealth is managed
4.	evaluate and manage the impact that the ethical, regulatory and legal environments have on the financial planning process, including potential conflicts of interest

Contribution to the development of graduate attributes

This subject examines the investment and financial issues arising from the management of personal wealth. It commences with an introduction to the Australian financial planning industry and then explores the most important components of wealth management:

setting financial plans,
budgeting, taxation planning,
investment planning and strategies (including managed funds),
risk management and insurance,
home ownership and property investment,
superannuation and social security,
leveraged investments,
retirement planning and
estate planning.

Students will develop a financial plan that meets the specific needs of a hypothetical client. Successful completion of this subject will contribute to students’ acquiring the following graduate attributes:

critical thinking and analytical skills,
communication skills (reading/writing) to work with others and
business practice oriented skills.

The Subject earning Objectives (SLOs) also align the UTS graduate attributes in the following ways:

SLO 1: critical and independent thinking and disciplinary, professional and technical knowledge as students learn how to apply financial planning strategies to meet client needs.
SLO 2: critical and independent thinking and disciplinary, professional and technical knowledge as students learn how to apply financial planning strategies to meet client needs.
SLOs 3 & 4: ethical understanding in the context of financial planning. This is particularly important given recent scandals in financial planning industry and recent regulatory changes.

Teaching and learning strategies

The subject will be taught using a combination of lectures and integrated workshop questions. These classes will be supplemented with extensive electronic learning materials and resources. The learning management system will be used to share information and encourage interaction between staff and students. Students will also use Word and Excel to complete the financial planning case study.

Students are expected to prepare for class by accessing relevant links to online material as well as going through assigned weekly readings uploaded via the learning management system and in the prescribed textbook. Students should be prepared to discuss the material during class. Short examples are contained within each week’s lecture to demonstrate how theory is applied to real-world problems.

As a means of connecting the subject to professional practice and providing an active learning experience, a variety of guest lecturers from the financial planning industry are invited to speak about their professional practice. Their lectures provide real-life examples on how they manage the impact of the ethical, regulatory, and legal environments in which they operate. These talks help reinforce concepts learned in class and from online materials. Students are encouraged to ask the guest lecturers questions.

There will be in-class multiple-choice questions which students will participate in using Pingo, an interactive online application. The correct solutions will be uploaded so that students can self-assess their knowledge.

There will be two in-class quizzes, in the form of a multiple choice quiz in Week 3 and a short answer quiz in Week 7. Students’ scores in these quizzes will form part of their overall assessment for the subject. The correct solutions will be uploaded to the learning management system.

Students will be required to submit a financial plan for a hypothetical client in Week 9 At the end of the lecture each week, time will be allocated for students to discuss how the concepts and strategies learned in class may be applied to this assignment. This will provide students with an important in-class collaborative learning experience.

Students are encouraged to use the Discussion Board to interact with each other, and to enhance their understanding of the topics covered in the subject.

Content (topics)

Introduction and overview of the financial planning industry in Australia
Developing financial plans, budgeting; taxation planning
Investment planning including: direct investments; managed funds; manager/product selection; asset allocation;
Home ownership and property investing;
Risk management and insurance;
Social security;
Leveraged investments;
Superannuation planning;
Estate planning;
Retirement planning

Assessment

Assessment task 1: Case Study (Group)

Objective(s):	This addresses subject learning objective(s): 1, 2, 3 and 4
Weight:	25%
Length:	Documents should not exceed 25 pages in total (including title page and references).
Criteria:	The assessment criteria for the financial plan are: how accurate and complete is the analysis of the client’s current financial position the presentation and clarity of the financial plan how appropriate the advice is and whether the advice may be realistically implemented

Assessment task 2: Quizzes (Individual)*

Objective(s):	This addresses subject learning objective(s): 1, 2 and 3
Weight:	25%
Length:	Five open book online quizzes of 45 minutes each
Criteria:	Questions will be graded based on: Understanding of the critical elements involved in developing and managing a personal financial plan Understanding of the ethical, regulatory and legal environments in which personal wealth is managed Ability to evaluate the impact that the ethical, regulatory and legal environments have on the financial planning process *Note: Late submission of the assessment task will not be marked and awarded a mark of zero. Students who do not complete a quiz will have the weighting of that assessment task added to the final examination conditional on the students submitting, receiving approval and complying with the requirements of special consideration in accordance with the UTS rules. If the composite mark for the final exam is more than 50 percent and the student is in the final subject of their degree, the UTS rules on borderline result (range of 45-49, inclusive) shall apply whereby students will be allowed to undertake a supplementary final examination. Where a student completes and passes a supplementary examination, the maximum mark awarded for the subject will be 50 Pass.

Assessment task 3: Final Exam (Individual)

Objective(s):	This addresses subject learning objective(s): 1, 2, 3 and 4
Weight:	50%
Length:	Two hours.
Criteria:	The final exam will be graded based on: Understanding of the critical elements involved in developing and managing a personal financial plan Ability to develop financial plans that meet the needs and wealth management objectives of different individuals Understanding of the ethical, regulatory and legal environments in which personal wealth is managed Ability to evaluate the impact that the ethical, regulatory and legal environments have on the financial planning process, including potential conflicts of interest

Minimum requirements

Students must achieve at least 50% of the subject’s total marks.

Required texts

Warren McKeown, Mike Kerry & Marc Olynyk (2017), Financial Planning 2nd Updated Edition, John Wiley and Sons. ISBN: 9780730343554 (ebook)

Available at: https://www.wileydirect.com.au/buy/financial-planning-2nd-update-edition/ or accessed online via the library.

Other learning material will be placed on Canvas.

Recommended texts

Sharon Taylor (2019), Financial Planning in Australia: Advice and Wealth Management, LexisNexis ISBN 9780409351439 (ebook)

Jack R. Kapoor, Les R. Dlabay, Robert J. Hughes (14th Edition), Personal Finance ISBN 9781265105426 (ebook)

Australian Master Financial Planning Guide 2019/2020, CCH.

Students are also encouraged to read the e-magazine Professional Planner (http://www.professionalplanner.com.au/) for the hot topics in financial planning. The latest issues are free online.