New Kaplan tool to minimise poor financial advice risks

The Kaplan-UNSW Global Diagnostic for Financial Advisers (KUDOS) is Kaplan’s first step to standardising and administering a national assessment of advisers, a statement from Kaplan said.

The diagnostic tool is designed to identify strengths and weaknesses in key areas and performance in relation to other advisers, the statement said.

“KUDOS will empower licensees and their advisers to adapt and prosper in a rapidly changing landscape because it minimises the risk of poor financial advice,” Kaplan Professional chief executive Brian Knight said.

“As the industry becomes more transparent in regards to adviser knowledge and education standards, KUDOS will become an invaluable tool as it encourages a culture of compliance and continuous improvement.”

Kaplan Professional's head of faculty, Jennifer Hornsey, added that the development of KUDOS began in late 2014, and has undergone “lengthy psychometric and data analysis”.

“We have worked closely with psychometricians from UNSW Global’s EAA who utilised the latest advances in measurement in order to develop a valid and object assessment – expertise was provided in test targeting, test equating and scaling, and differential item functioning,” she said.

“Every question was reviewed for curriculum validity and structure by Kaplan Professional subject matter experts. The overall assessment was then reviewed and appraised by a panel of senior industry practitioners.”