Customer Knowledge Assessment (CKA)

What is CKA?

CKA is a mandatory declaration if you wish to invest unit trust online through POEMS. Starting 1st January 2012, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has made it compulsory for us to document your declaration on having the relevant knowledge or experience in understanding the risks and features of Unit Trusts.

How does CKA affect me?

Every account will have a CKA status of either “PASS”, “PENDING”, or “FAIL”. In order to perform any “BUY” and/or “SWITCH” transactions through POEMS, your CKA self-declaration must be a “PASS” status. Otherwise, you will have to perform the transactions through a Financial Advisory Representative. You may visit any of our Phillip Investor Centres to seek advice and place a trade through our Investment Consultants.

Who is affected/exempted?

The following segments are exempted from the new MAS requirements and do not have to undergo the Customer Account Review (CAR) & Customer Knowledge Assessment (CKA).

1. Accredited Investors as defined in Securities and Futures Act (Cap.289) section 4A
2. Expert Investors as defined in Securities and Futures Act (Cap.289) section 4A
3. Institutional Investors as defined in Securities and Futures Act (Cap.289) section 4A
4. Corporations, unincorporated entities, partnerships, or trust**

**If you fall into one or more of these categories, please furnish the relevant supporting documents and contact your representative.

Both parties of a joint account must perform the CKA individually. Each party must declare and “Pass” their respective CKA declaration before the joint account can be enabled for Buy/Switch. Joint account holders without an individual POEMS account will not be able to do the declaration via POEMS.

How do I pass CKA?

CKA is a self-declaration and we do not require any documentary proof from you. Therefore, it is solely your responsibility to ensure that you understand the Unit Trust / unlisted Specified Investment Product (SIP) that you have chosen to trade/continue to trade in, and that you are willing and able to accept such sole responsibility.

You will need to self-declare that you fulfil any ONE (1) of the following:

Declare to have at least 6 transactions in Unit Trust or Investment-Linked Products (ILPs) in the last 3 years. If the transactions were done through Phillip, you will automatically pass CKA.

Note: Purchases/switches of Unit Trust funds or ILPs through any financial institutions including Banks, Fund Houses etc. are all considered relevant experience. If you declare to have done at least 6 transactions in the last 3 years, your CKA will immediately be “PASS”.

Have a minimum of 3 consecutive years of working experience(s) in the past 10 years in the development, structuring, management, sale, trading, or research and analysis of investment products. (Work experience in accountancy, actuarial science, treasury or financial risk management is also considered relevant experience).

Note: If you declare to have the relevant work experience, your CKA status will be “Pending” for at least 3 working days for us to conduct relevant checks. Support functions in the above-mentioned areas that are administrative or clerical in nature will not be considered as relevant experience.

Have a diploma or higher qualification(s) in relevant courses such as accountancy, actuarial science, business, capital markets, commerce, economics finance, financial engineering, financial planning, computational finance and insurance; AND/OR

Have a professional finance-related qualification(s). Examples of this are the Chartered Financial Analyst Exam conducted by the CFA Institute and the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) qualifications.

Note: If you declare to have the relevant education qualification, your CKA status will be “Pending” for at least 3 working days for us to conduct relevant checks.

Once you have passed CKA, your CKA status in POEMS will immediately reflect a “PASS”. The CKA “PASS” status is valid for ONE (1) year. Online renewal can be done via POEMS upon status expiry.

E-Learning for Trading in Unit trusts

Those who do not fulfill any of the above requirements to pass CKA may wish to take an E-learning Course to learn about Specified Investment Products and Unit Trusts.

Upon completion of the e-learning and passing the module, please download a copy of the certificate and send it together with the completed CKA form to us. We will then process your request to trade Unit Trusts.

How do I perform the CKA declaration/renewal?

Online Declaration through POEMS

STEP 1: Login to POEMS > “Acct Mgmt” > “Stocks” > Click the “CAR & CKA form”

STEP 2: Tick the check box and click “Proceed”

STEP 3: Answer all questions > Tick the check box and click “Submit”

To check your current CKA status, simply login to POEMS > “Settings” > “My Account” > “SIP (Specified Investment Product) Status”

Once you have passed CKA, your CKA status in POEMS will immediately reflect a “PASS”. The CKA “PASS” status is valid for ONE (1) year. Online renewal can be done via POEMS upon status expiry.

Declaration through Forms

Step 1:

Fill in this CAR/CKA form (Click icon above).

Step 2:

EITHER

Send a photo of the completed form to unittrust@phillip.com.sg

–

OR

Mail us the completed form using this Business Reply Envelope

FAQ

1.If I have taken CKA with another distributor, do I still need to make the declaration again?

Yes. Each distributor has to perform their respective CKA.
Yes, if the trades were done with other distributors e.g. with banks.

No, if the trades were done through Phillip. If you have done at least 6 trades in the past 3 years with Phillip, your CKA status will automatically be a “PASS”.

Documentary proof or any supporting documents will not be required. Therefore, it is solely your responsibility to ensure that you understand the Unit Trust / unlisted Specified Investment Product (SIP) that you have chosen to trade/continue to trade in, and that you are willing and able to accept such sole responsibility.
Both parties of a joint account must perform the CKA individually. Each party must declare and “Pass” their respective CKA declaration before the joint account can be enabled for Buy/Switch. Joint account holders with individual POEMS account can do the declaration via POEMS.

Joint account holders who do not have an individual account will have to fill in the declaration form:

Once you have attained a “PASS” status for the CKA, your “PASS” status will be valid for one year from the date of assessment. On subsequent years, you will still be required to complete and “PASS” the CKA.
If you do not pass the CKA or do not wish to go through the assessment and/or e-learning, you will only be allowed to perform SELL trades of your existing holdings through POEMS. All other types of transactions (including BUY, SWITCH, and RSP applications) will have to be done under advisory. You may visit any of our Phillip Investor Centres to seek advice and place a trade through our Investment Consultants.