Tomos Croxon, Client Services Executive at Citywide, has recently taken his Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) exams and passed with flying colours! Tomos sat his first exam – R01 Financial Services Regulations and Ethics – back in May, closely followed by his second exam, R02 Investment Principles and Risk, in August. He is currently studying for his third exam – R03 Personal Taxation. We caught up with Tomos to find out more.

How have you found the modules and associated exams?
“I found R01 quite daunting because it provided a colossal amount of detail and information in one go! However, it did prove very interesting and gave me an excellent overview of the financial services industry as a whole. R02 was more akin to what I studied at university, and so I felt a lot more familiar revisiting investment theory during that module.”

How have your studies related to your everyday work at Citywide?
“The modules often relate to what I do here at Citywide. I would cover a concept, product or tax during my studies, and then have a real time example to deal with at work; be that studying the rules around pension top ups and then having the opportunity to write a report, or learning about the tax computation of Capital Gains Tax and then getting to put it into practise by calculating the expected tax liability for a client. It has been so helpful to bring my studies to life through these real cases and clients.

There have also been times where I’ve come across something at work for the first time. In these instances, I have approached them by researching and/or discussing with my colleagues. I then found myself with a base level of understanding on these topics when they later come up in my studies.”

What’s next on the study front?
“I’m going to be sitting the R03 exam on Personal Taxation in the new year, at which point I’ll progress on to the J09 exam; a paraplanner-specific qualification. After that, I will complete my apprenticeship, culminating in a portfolio of reports and an interview.”

What does the future look like?
“For now, more studying! Once I’ve finished my apprenticeship, I’d like to do the Investment Management Certificate (IMC) before moving on to complete the CII R04, R05 and R06 modules and associated exams which completes the Level 4 Diploma in Regulated Financial Planning. It’s at this point that I’ll become a fully fledged financial planner and hopefully all the studying will have been worth it! I’m looking forward to developing my knowledge and experience alongside our brilliant Citywide team and clients.