Kaplan launches innovative training programme for Securities and Investment Institute benchmark qualifications

Kaplan’s online learning portal fully integrated with SII learning materials

5 March 2009, London -- Kaplan Financial, a leading global provider of financial, accountancy and legal training, has launched a suite of training programmes for investment professionals leading to the Securities and Investment Institute (SII) Certificates and the Investment Administration Qualification (IAQ™).

In addition to Kaplan’s traditional instructor-led classroom courses, Kaplan has developed a dedicated online learning portal that has been fully integrated with the Securities and Investment Institute’s approved workbooks and presents the material in new and innovative ways.    Delegates can customise a range of learning tools to suit their learning styles, including interactive e-learning modules, customisable question banks and online videos presenting essential study and exam techniques. The technology is based on Kaplan’s successful portal for accountancy training, ‘EN-gage’.

Kaplan Financial Sales Director Donald Ross said: “With market turmoil at unprecedented levels, market participants are looking for innovative ways of providing benchmark training. We believe that Kaplan’s new and flexible products will deliver a compelling and fresh approach that fits perfectly with current market conditions.”

Kaplan has also developed a Managed Training Service with service levels tailored for each client.  Self-service online tools and bespoke reports allow clients to obtain exactly the information about their delegates that they need with student success rates, anticipated timescales to complete exams, benchmarking against other employers and employees, and cost-effectiveness indicators available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The SII Certificates programme is a wide ranging group of qualifications designed specifically to meet the requirements of individuals working in the securities and derivatives markets who need to obtain Financial Services Authority (FSA) Approved Person status.

The IAQ™ is a practitioner-led programme for administration and operations staff. It equips individuals with an overview of the financial services industry and its regulation as well as providing a detailed picture of their particular industry sector.

Kaplan Financial’s clients include most of the world’s leading investment banks, asset managers and wealth managers including: Bank of America, Barclays, BlackRock, Bloomberg, BNP Paribas, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Fidelity, Fortis, HSBC, ICAP, ING, JP Morgan, Lloyds Banking Group, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, Royal Bank of Scotland, Santander, Standard Chartered, and UBS.

“We are delighted that Kaplan Financial, with their global reputation for excellence in financial training, is launching a training programme to prepare candidates for the SII benchmark qualification,” said Ruth Martin, Managing Director of SII.

About Kaplan Financial

Kaplan Financial provides training for professional qualifications and business programmes.  We train more than 40,000 business and government professionals and international students annually for investment qualifications (including CFA®), professional accountancy and tax exams; and bespoke programmes for corporates and government offices.

Kaplan Financial is part of Kaplan, Inc., a leading international provider of education services with 2008 revenue of $2.3 billion and a subsidiary of The Washington Post Company (NYSE: WPO). For more information, please visit www.kaplanfinancial.co.uk

For more information, please contact:
Elizabeth Hess, Kaplan Professional
Phone: + 44 20 7645 8968; Mobile: + 44 7815 143 065
elizabeth.hess@kaplan.com