STEP Professional Postgraduate Diploma in Private Wealth Advice

Enhance knowlede, expertise and leadership skills with the The STEP Professional Postgraduate Diploma in Private Wealth Advice.

This exclusive online course, awarded in association with Alliance Manchester Business School, the University of Manchester, is suitable for practitioners in the mid-stages of their career who are or who aspire to become business leaders and develop their strategic understanding and risk assessment ability.

The syllabus includes technical content on key subject areas relating to private wealth advice with a focus on critical thinking in order to deal with risks and potential hurdles faced by you or your organisation. 

The course is delivered through an exclusive series of eight innovative and interactive online masterclasses and two enhancement sessions provided by industry-leading tutors, covering key strategy, structure and processes required to cement your career as a leading practitioner in the Private Wealth Advice industry. 

What do our graduates say?  

“I could not recommend the PPGD course and CLTI highly enough. It has been an excellent course all round and well worth the time. A stepping stone to my master’s study, it provided me with good background knowledge of regulatory change within estate planning and trusts. The seminars were excellent, and the topics covered were fully comprehensive. The networking was excellent. I am still in touch with people I met on the course.” - Elizabeth Spiess, Generation Three, Senior Trust and Company Administrator, Switzerland

View more information download our Course Information Brochure 

Upon completion of this course you will:

• Demonstrate strategic risk management in a leadership capacity and be able to formulate a strategic GRC framework. You will also be able to identify, assess, and mitigate strategic risks effectively, enhancing decision-making processes benefitting for your firm, division or practice area.
• Refresh specialised skills on family business advising in order to navigate the complexities unique to family businesses, including succession planning, conflict resolution, and governance structures.
• Renew profiency on trust disputes, acquiring the expertise to navigate intricate legal frameworks and interpersonal dynamics involved in trust disputes, including sham trusts.
• Reinforce learning on cross-border succession planning: get knowledge on the intricacies of international laws and regulations governing succession planning across borders, including differencees between common law and civil law systems.
• Demonstrate mastery of the knowledge and skills required as a philanthropy adviser and critically evaluate the importance of good governance and effective practice.
• Update skills on international taxation and information exchange: Develop a comprehensive understanding of international tax laws and regulations, enabling you to optimise and advise on tax and information exchange strategies.
• Acquire proficiency in understanding what is a digital asset, and which definitions are most compatible with English law, distinguishing between proprietary and non-proprietary rights associated with transmitted information.  Explore the impact of various national legislations on proprietary rights, fiduciary duties concerning digital assets and security issues related to cloud-based system.
• Gain additional expertise in compliance for trustees. Be able to construct a risk matrix, advise, at a leadership level, measures to combat money laundering and terrorist financing within the wealth advising sector and advise trustees' obligations for disclosure and reporting of criminal activities and suspicious transactions at leadership levels of knowledge.

• To complement the technical learning, this programme also includes exclusive sessions for existing or aspiring senior and strategic leaders to enhance their leadership and commercial skills.

  • Sales and Marketing Considerations
  • Leadership and Judgement.
• You will also become a Full Member of STEP and use the TEP designation.

This course is suitable for practitioners in the mid-stages of their career who aspire to become business leaders and develop their strategic understanding and risk assessment ability. It would also benefit senior practitioners and experienced leaders who wish to refresh their technical knowledge as well as develop key skills to strengthen their business acumen and leadership style.

Students of this course typically include:

• Private Client Advisers
• Wealth Managers
• International Tax Advisers
• Private Bankers
• Family Office Executives
• Trust Officers
• Family Business Advisers
• Senior Financial Planners
• Senior Lawyers

• Innovative and interactive online masterclasses on a range of topical subjects led by recognised industry experts with a wealth of experience to share.
• Enhancement sessions to develop strategic skills in the areas of business strategy, sales and marketing and leadership and judgement delivered by renowned practitioners and speakers.
• Cohort sizes are limited to ensure that all students can participate and interact. Participation is strongly encouraged and facilitated so that students can benefit from colleagues sharing their experiences.
• Networking opportunities with like-minded practitioners, often from a range of professional backgrounds and jurisdictions.
• Participation in masterclasses and subsequent consolidation of what is taught, enhanced by own research completed in preparation of the Reflective Journal and Oral Assessment, will have real practical benefit in the workplace.
• The highest-level qualification in the STEP qualification framework.
• Successful completion fulfils the educational requirement (120 Diploma level credits) for full STEP membership, meaning that graduates are eligible for full STEP membership (subject to having 2 years’ experience at a specialist level).
• The course is subject to the rigorous quality assurance procedures of Manchester Business School, a Faculty of the University of Manchester.

The programme runs over six months and will be delivered fully online through a blend of self-study, practical research, and attendance at monthly weekend sessions. Please note that to cover the maximum number of students worldwide all masterclasses commence at 9am GMT.  

The Professional Post-Graduate (PPgD) Diploma carries 60 credits of post-graduate level learning.

Each of the ten modules of study on the PPgD carries 6 credits, which equates to approximately 60 notional learning hours across all the learning and assessment activities for each module.

These activities include:

• Guided reading and learning activities before each masterclass
• Attendance at the masterclass
• Consolidation after the masterclass
• Assessment writing and preparation time – the reflective journal and oral assessment
• Assessment time.

It is recommended that approximately 6–10 hours per week of study is typical for success on the PPgD.

The programme consists of eight masterclass sessions led by industry experts focusing on emerging specialist areas of practice which are providing disruptive opportunities for business growth and transformation:

• Strategic Risk Management for Leaders
• Family Business Advising
• Trust Disputes
• Cross-Border Succession
• Strategic Philanthropy
• Digital Assets
• Compliance for Trustees
• International Tax.

To complement the technical learning, this programme also includes exclusive sessions for aspiring senior and strategic leaders to enhance their leadership and commercial skills.

• Sales and Marketing Considerations
• Leadership and Judgement.

Upon registration students are given access to an online learning platform, which contains bespoke course reading and workbooks for the eight masterclass topics, further reading (in the form of the STEP Diploma in Trusts and Estates and STEP Diploma in International Trust Management course manuals) and a range of additional resources. Students will also receive access to a discussion forum to facilitate networking.

Assessment for this course is by way of a reflective journal and oral assessment. The reflective journal is formed of eight 1,000-1,500-word masterclass write-ups which comment on key learning points from each session and identify how these concepts can be implemented within the workplace as a part of the practitioner’s role. The oral assessment will assess the candidate against the course competencies and their technical content knowledge from their reflective journal. This is conducted as a 2–3-hour interview.

 Course Timetable - May 2024

Thank you for your interest in this course. Due to government regulations, we are unable to accept online payments from, or, on behalf of students from certain countries and territories without prior agreement. Please contact us for further details on cltinternational@centlaw.com, +44 (0) 121 362 7733.

Please note that to cover the maximum number of students worldwide all masterclasses commence at 9am GMT.