CAFBA launches commercial finance education platform

Available to members of CAFBA’s Education Council (formed of 22 commercial lenders and aggregators), the Professional Attainment Centre of Education (PACE) brings together formal courses, videos, podcasts and other CAFBA-approved content and resources focusing on commercial and asset finance.

Managed by the association’s registered training organisation, the Institute of Strategic Management (ISM), the PACE platform aims to provide “a pathway of commercial finance education for new to industry, whether broker or lender”.

Speaking to The Adviser about the launch, CAFBA chief executive David Gill said: “Formal education in commercial finance has been lacking for some time and there is no structured educational pathway into commercial finance for new entrants. 

“By forming the Education Council, we’ve been able to develop PACE, which is a digitised platform that houses and delivers the right courses in commercial finance, depending on what stage of the journey you’re on. 

“It also provides CPD content that manages and records progress, saving broking firms an enormous amount of time and money.”

CAFBA’s chair of education and commercial broker Terry Moody added that while lenders had previously offered “rigorous training courses” for commercial lenders and brokers, these have now fallen by the wayside.

As such, the platform targets both brokers and lenders.

“It’s not just broker specific, it’s industry specific,” he said. 

“We are encouraging banks and lenders to put their employees in to try some of these courses because it’s not just us saying: ‘This is how to become a good commercial broker.’ We’re saying: ‘This is how to become a good commercial lender, too’. And if you’re a good lender, you’ll have good broking partnerships.”

Mr Moody outlined that many CAFBA members may have had previous commercial experience, or commerce degrees, but this training did not necessarily set them up for success when they started commercial or asset finance broking. (Indeed, this issue was echoed by rugby league player and asset finance broker Tom Trbojevic in a recent New Broker podcast, who noted that while he had a commerce degree, he found CAFBA’s courses helped provide “more detail on the industry and learn more” about asset finance.)

As such, CAFBA asked ISM’s director Gerard Hermens to come up with a framework for commercial and asset finance brokers to follow.

The framework now consists of a Commercial and Asset Finance FNS41820 Certificate IV in Financial Services (Complex Issues in Commercial Lending); Commercial and Asset Finance FNS51820 Diploma of Financial Services (Complex Issues in Commercial Lending); and a Certified Lease and Finance Professional.

Recurring CAFBA accreditation compliance courses and relevant courses from third-party providers also form part of the PACE platform.

Mr Hermens commented: “It’s an easy-to-use solution that you can use on your smart device 24/7, that tracks your progress and records completion…

“This is meant to be a one-stop shop, where you’ll learn to write a formal submission,” he said, noting that he believed it was marking the first step to self-regulating and self-imposing a formal education process for commercial brokers through a “reputable, respected qualification”.

In conclusion, Mr Moody stated: “We want an industry with the highest standards. The system is designed to remind, keep up to date, collect, authenticate, and certify 20 hours of CPD — and it’s all assessed.”

Mr Gill concurred, adding: “We hope we can create a better-educated market that is easier to access and easier to record and easier to attract new people into the industry. 

“This is the greatest industry nobody’s ever heard of. We want to be able to go to university career days and say: ‘Have you ever thought about a career in commercial finance?’ And showing a pathway into it.”

[Related: Commercial and asset finance broking could become recognised professions]