WMSSM Designation
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Wealth Management SpecialistSM - WMSSM

WMS
WMSSM Professional Designation Program
$1,300.00

The Wealth Management SpecialistSM, or WMSSM program, is a designation program for financial professionals. This program provides new advisors with a substantial overview of the most critical concepts in financial planning and wealth management, without the rigors of the CFP® certification or a more comprehensive professional designation. 

Begin a self-study program and complete your WMSSM designation.  
You’ll be able to pursue our self-study program as it fits into your schedule. 

The WMSSM designation streamlines the cost and time toward your next credential.
As you advance your career, the College recognizes the time and investment it takes to earn industry-recognized credentials. Upon completion of the WMSSM , graduates receive exemption from course FP511 in the College's CFP® certification education program. 

Plus, if you currently hold a professional designation from the College, completion of a new professional designation fulfills CE hours as part of the renewal of your current designation.


The WMSSM designation package includes:

• Fundamental Considerations in the Wealth Management Process
• Time Value of Money Principles
• Measurement of Risk and Return
• The Asset Allocation Process
• Investment Strategies
• Tax Implications and Strategies in the Financial Planning Process
• Credit and Lending
• Insurance Products in Wealth Management
• Education Funding
• Business Ownership and Planning
• Retirement Planning Considerations
• Equity Compensation
• Estate Planning










Topic Quizzes, located at the end of each unit in your program, are designed to gauge your comprehension of the material. Students must complete topic quizzes  before moving forward in their course content. For questions answered incorrectly, correct answers with detailed rationale are provided to help improve your comprehension.

The Practice Exam is designed to closely replicate the Final Exam experience in terms of the degree of difficulty, timing, format, and topical coverage. This exam can be taken twice and provides unique practice questions that you haven’t seen at this point in your studies. The Practice Exam is a sound indicator of how you will perform on your Final Exam. It allows you to see areas of strength and weakness on your Performance Tracker. 

 

For the AAMS®, APMA®, AWMA® ,CRPC® , CSRIC®  and FPQP®  designations:
To pass the designation program, you must achieve a score of 70% or higher on the Final Exam. Students have an allotted time of 3 hours to take the Final Exam and a maximum of two attempts to pass the Final Exam. 

The grade earned on the Final Exam reflects your overall grade for the designation program.

For the ABFPSM, ADPA®, LUTCF®  and WMSSM  designations:
To pass the designation program, you must achieve a score of 70% or higher on the Final Exam. Students have an allotted time of 2 hours to take the Final Exam and a maximum of two attempts to pass the Final Exam. 

The grade earned on the Final Exam reflects your overall grade for the designation program.

 




 


Frequently Asked Questions about the WMSSM Designation

The WMSSM designation program is ideal for those who are involved with customer transactions and recommendations of all financial services products. 
 
  • New hires who desire financial planning credentials
  • Experienced producers who are transitioning from product sales into offering a broader range of services
  • High-level platform personnel
  • Sales assistants and support staff

For all designation programs except LUTCF®
Students in all professional designation programs except LUTCF® have 120 days from the date they are provided online access to complete a designation program (including testing and passing the Final Exam). 
  • Students who enroll in Live Online classes will receive online access 20 days prior to the first class date.
  • Students who enroll in OnDemand classes will receive online access immediately after they enroll.
If you need to extend your program, extensions of up to 60 days are available at a fee.  Extensions requests must be received on or before the fourteenth day following the course end date. Fees are non-refundable.

For the LUTCF® program
Students have 180 days from the date they are provided online access to complete a course in the three-course LUTCF® program (including testing and passing the Final Exam). 
  • Students who enroll in Live Online classes will receive online access 20 days prior to the first class date.
  • Students who enroll in OnDemand classes will receive online access immediately after they enroll.
If you need to extend your program, extensions of up to 60 days are available at a fee.  Extensions requests must be received on or before the fourteenth day following the course end date. Fees are non-refundable.

 

 

The Final Exam for the WMSSM program contains 60 questions. 

Students have an allotted time of 2 hours to take the Final Exam and a maximum of two attempts to pass the Final Exam.

A passing score on the Final Exam is a score of 70% or higher. The grade earned on the Final Exam reflects your overall grade for the designation program.

A score of 70% or better is required to pass all professional designation final exams. Students who do not earn a minimum of 70% after the allotted number of final exam attempts will be required to re-enroll in the professional designation course, pursuant to the Professional Designation Re-Enrollment Policy.


After a student successfully completes the academic requirements of the professional designation program, students are notified via email (typically within 48 hours of course completion) to apply for authorization to use the applicable certification marks in accordance with the designation requirements. You can also apply for authorization through home.kaplanlearn.com. Continued use of certification marks is subject to compliance with ongoing renewal requirements.










For all professional designation holders except LUTCF®
All professional designation holders (except LUTCF®) are responsible for completing 16 hours of continuing education (CE) credits every two years. A $95 renewal fee is also required every two years.

For LUTCF® designation holders 
All LUTCF® designation holders are responsible for completing 3 hours of Ethics continuing education every two years.

A $50 renewal fee is also required every two years. 

Learn more about your renewal options at this link: Renew Your Professional Designation

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