Course
Investment & Insurance Sales Foundations
Sell investments, mutual funds, and insurance with confidence and compliance.
This course builds the judgement a salesperson needs to recommend investment, mutual-fund, and insurance products well — and to do it within the rules. It's written for new and aspiring advisors, bank reps, and insurance agents, and as a refresher for experienced sellers.
Prerequisites — check before starting
What this journey assumes
- Plan for roughly 4–6 hours end to endEight modules, each ~30–40 minutes including the module check.
- Canadian regulatory framing, principles everywhere elseExamples reference Canadian bodies (CIRO, provincial securities & insurance regulators) and products (RRSP/TFSA/RESP/FHSA, segregated funds). The underlying selling principles travel anywhere.
This may not be the right journey if…
- This is educational training, not financial, tax, legal, or compliance advice, and it is not a licensing course.
- Selling these products in Canada requires the appropriate registration/licence (e.g., CIRO registration for mutual funds; an LLQP-based licence for life insurance). Always follow your firm's current policies and the rules of your regulator and province.
- Specific figures, limits, and rules change — verify every number against the current official source before using it with a client.
Progress at a glance
- 0 mastered
- 0 in progress
- 32 not started
Per-section breakdown
- Section 1: Foundations of investing0/4
- Section 2: Understanding mutual funds0/4
- Section 3: Registered & non-registered accounts (Canada)0/4
- Section 4: Insurance essentials0/4
- Section 5: Know Your Client & suitability0/4
- Section 6: Ethics, compliance & disclosure0/4
- Section 7: The sales conversation0/4
- Section 8: Servicing & growing the book0/4
Time estimate is a credible minimum: ~17 min per concept (lesson + first quiz), 10 min per section test, 30 min per mock exam. Most learners end up at 1.5–2× this — budget headroom.
Modules
The four ideas every product conversation rests on: risk and return, compounding, asset classes, and diversification.
- 1.1Risk and return travel togetherU
- 1.2Time value of money and compoundingU
- 1.3The main asset classesU
- 1.4Diversification and asset allocationA
What a fund actually is, the main types, why fees quietly decide outcomes, and how to read performance honestly.
- 2.1What a mutual fund is (units and NAV)U
- 2.2The main fund typesU
- 2.3Fees matter: MER, loads, and trailersAn
- 2.4Active vs passive, and reading performance honestlyAn
The tax-advantaged containers Canadians invest through — RRSP/RRIF, TFSA/FHSA, RESP — plus non-registered basics.
- 3.1RRSP and RRIFU
- 3.2TFSA and FHSAU
- 3.3RESP — saving for educationU
- 3.4Non-registered accounts and taxation basicsAn
Why insurance exists, the main life and living-benefit products, and where annuities and segregated funds fit.
- 4.1Why insurance: managing riskU
- 4.2Life insurance: term vs permanentAn
- 4.3Living benefits: disability and critical illnessU
- 4.4Annuities and segregated fundsU
The legal and ethical core of selling: knowing your client, knowing your product, profiling risk, and recommending what's actually suitable.
- 5.1Know Your Client (KYC) and Know Your Product (KYP)U
- 5.2Risk profiling: capacity vs toleranceAn
- 5.3The financial needs analysisA
- 5.4Suitability and the client's best interestE
Conflicts of interest, plain-language disclosure, professional conduct, and the record-keeping that protects clients and you.
- 6.1Conflicts of interest and how you're paidAn
- 6.2Disclosure and plain-language transparencyU
- 6.3Professional conduct and ethicsE
- 6.4Complaints, records, and privacyU
A repeatable, ethical sales process: prospecting and discovery, presenting the solution, handling objections, and closing well.
- 7.1Prospecting and discoveryA
- 7.2Presenting and matching the solutionA
- 7.3Handling objections without pressureA
- 7.4Closing and onboardingA
What happens after the sale: reviews and rebalancing, acting on life events, earning referrals ethically, and retaining clients for the long run.
- 8.1Reviews and rebalancingA
- 8.2Life events that trigger adviceAn
- 8.3Earning referrals ethicallyU
- 8.4Retention and lifetime valueE
Final assessment
A broad, end-to-end assessment across every module. Use it to confirm you're ready to sell competently and compliantly.
Final assessment
8 Q · 30m · 70% passA focused check across the product foundations — investing basics, mutual funds, registered & non-registered accounts, and insurance essentials (modules 1-4). Aim for a confident pass before moving into suitability, ethics, and the sales conversation.