Customer Knowledge Assessment is an exercise that ascertains a customer's financial knowledge and ability to understand the risks and features of Unlisted Specified Investment Products.

Specified Investment Products (SIPs) refer to a category of complex financial products containing structures, features and risks that can be difficult for retail consumers to understand. There are two categories of SIPs – Listed and Unlisted.

Examples of Listed SIPs include:

• Certificates
• Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs)
• Exchange Traded Notes (ETNs)
• Futures (Extended Settlement Contracts)
• Structured Warrants
• Callable Bull / Bear Contracts (CBBCs)

Examples of Unlisted SIPs include:

• Contracts for Differences (CFDs)
• Foreign Exchange Margin Trading
• Structured Deposits and Dual Currency Investments
• Structured Products
• Collective Investment Scheme or Unit Trusts
• Investment-Linked Plans (ILPs)

Customers who intend to purchase or trade Unlisted Specified Investment Products are required to undergo the Customer Knowledge Assessment to ensure that they understand and agree to the risks involved.

Customers will be required to answer a simple questionnaire and provide information about their knowledge and experience.

To qualify for the Customer Knowledge Assessment, customers need to satisfy one (1) of the following three (3) criteria:

1. Educational qualification – Diploma or higher qualification in any of the following fields:

• Accountancy
• Actuarial Science
• Business / Business Admin
• Capital Markets
• Commerce / Economics
• Finance / Financial Engineering / Financial Planning / Computational Finance
• Insurance or any of the following professional finance-related qualifications:
  
  • Chartered Financial Analyst Examination conducted by the CFA Institute, USA
  • Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) Qualifications
  • Associate Wealth Planner or Certified Financial Planner by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, USA
  • Certified Financial Risk Manager Programme by the Global Association of Risk Professionals, USA
  • Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst Examination conducted by the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst Association, USA
  • Chartered Financial Consultant by the American College, USA

2. Work experience – A minimum of three (3) continuous years of working experience1 in the preceding 10 years involving the following fields:

• Development / Structuring / Management / Sale / Trading / Research / Analysis of Investment Products
• Investment Products / Accountancy / Actuarial Science / Treasury / Financial Risk Management / Legal work in related financial areas

3. Investment experience – At least six (6) transactions in an Unlisted SIP in the preceding three (3) years

¹ Provision of general support functions in the above-mentioned areas that are administrative or clerical in nature will not be considered as relevant experience
 

You may contact your financial adviser to request for a Customer Knowledge Assessment Form. The form will assess your educational qualifications, work and investment experience.

Should you qualify, the results of your Customer Knowledge Assessment will be valid for one (1) year from the date of assessment.

An unsuccessful Customer Knowledge Assessment does not prevent you from transacting in Unlisted Specified Investment Products. However, you will need to consult your financial adviser on how to purchase or trade Unlisted SIPs in a manner that suits your financial needs and risk appetite.

We have updated our web portal to capture the outcome of your Customer Knowledge Assessment (CKA). This will occur when you approve any online transactions created by your financial adviser representative.

During the online transaction, your adviser will be able to capture, and you will be able to acknowledge the outcome of the CKA form.

Click here for more details.