NZ CFS L5 Trustee Services study plan
NZ CFS L5 Trustee Services · Give each week a clear focus.
8 weeks · About 7 hours per week
Trustee Services regulatory and legislative framework (Trustee Act, Trusts Act, Financial Markets Conduct Act, AML/CFT obligations) & Trust law fundamentals and the nature of fiduciary relationships
Map the Trustee Act and Trusts Act provisions that govern trustee powers, obligations, and court supervision into an annotated outline
Distinguish the core fiduciary duties (loyalty, no-profit, no-conflict) from general trustee duties and explain each in writing
Identify the Financial Markets Conduct Act provisions relevant to trustee and supervisor roles and note where they intersect with trust law
Define the AML/CFT customer due diligence, enhanced due diligence, and suspicious activity reporting steps a trustee service must perform
Your checkpoint
A one-page annotated legislation map linking each key statute to the trustee duty or process it governs
Trust law fundamentals and the nature of fiduciary relationships & Trust formation, trust deeds, and types of trusts
Explain the elements of a valid express trust (certainties of intention, subject matter, objects) and apply them to two fact patterns
Compare fixed, discretionary, bare, and charitable trusts and state the practical consequences of each structure
Draft the essential clauses of a trust deed (parties, trust property, powers, distributions, termination) from a supplied fact scenario
Identify when a resulting or constructive trust may arise and describe the trustee's resulting obligations
Your checkpoint
A drafted trust deed skeleton with all essential clauses plus a short memo justifying each clause
Trustee duties, powers, discretions, and liability & Beneficiary rights, distributions, and management of conflicts of interest
Catalogue trustee powers (investment, advancement, appropriation, delegation) and the statutory limits on each
Analyse trustee liability for breach of trust, including the honest and reasonable mistake defence and relief by the court
Explain beneficiary rights to information and to call trustees to account, and apply the principles to a disclosure request
Identify conflict-of-interest scenarios (self-dealing, trustee remuneration, related-party transactions) and specify the correct management steps
Your checkpoint
A case-style analysis of a breach-of-trust and conflict scenario with recommended trustee actions and liability outcomes
Trustee investment duties, prudent person standard, and asset management & Trust administration, accounting, and record keeping
Apply the prudent person standard and relevant statutory investment rules to a model portfolio decision
Explain the duty to diversify and the role of an investment policy statement in documenting trustee decisions
Design a trust accounting and record-keeping system covering distributions, resolutions, and beneficiary registers
Reconcile a set of trust transactions to produce a distribution record and trustee resolution trail
Your checkpoint
A model investment policy statement plus a reconciled distribution and resolution record for a sample trust
Trustee Services regulatory and legislative framework (Trustee Act, Trusts Act, Financial Markets Conduct Act, AML/CFT obligations) & Professional conduct, ethics, and client relationship management in trustee services
Walk through the AML/CFT onboarding workflow for a trust client, including source-of-wealth and source-of-funds verification
Identify professional conduct obligations and ethical dilemmas specific to trustee services and apply an ethical decision framework
Explain how to manage client expectations, capacity issues, and family dynamics in trustee relationships
Draft client-facing correspondence explaining a trustee decision in plain language
Your checkpoint
An AML/CFT onboarding checklist and a plain-language client letter explaining a trustee decision
Trust formation, trust deeds, and types of trusts & Trustee duties, powers, discretions, and liability & Beneficiary rights, distributions, and management of conflicts of interest
Compare trust structures against client objectives and recommend an appropriate structure with reasons
Distinguish trustee discretions from duties and explain the standard of review applied to each
Explain how to obtain and document informed consent or court directions when a conflict arises
Prepare a trustee resolution exercising a discretion, with the reasoning recorded
Your checkpoint
A structure recommendation memo and a documented trustee resolution exercising a discretion
Trust administration, accounting, and record keeping & Trustee investment duties, prudent person standard, and asset management & Professional conduct, ethics, and client relationship management in trustee services
Integrate accounting, investment, and conduct requirements into a full annual trust review workflow
Identify record-keeping failures that create evidentiary and liability risk and propose controls
Explain how ethical and conduct obligations shape investment and reporting decisions
Produce a trustee annual report summarising performance, distributions, and compliance
Your checkpoint
A complete annual trustee report for a sample trust covering performance, distributions, and compliance
Trustee Services regulatory and legislative framework (Trustee Act, Trusts Act, Financial Markets Conduct Act, AML/CFT obligations) & Trust law fundamentals and the nature of fiduciary relationships & Trust formation, trust deeds, and types of trusts & Trustee duties, powers, discretions, and liability & Trust administration, accounting, and record keeping & Trustee investment duties, prudent person standard, and asset management & Beneficiary rights, distributions, and management of conflicts of interest & Professional conduct, ethics, and client relationship management in trustee services
Consolidate all eight domains into a single revision matrix with key rules and tests
Complete timed practice questions across every domain and log error patterns by domain
Revisit the lowest-scoring domains and restate the governing rules from memory
Simulate an exam session under time constraints and review the results
Your checkpoint
A full-length timed mock exam with a scored error log and a targeted remediation list
Milestones
Week 2: Can explain the three certainties and draft a valid trust deed skeleton without notes
Week 4: Can apply the prudent person standard and produce a reconciled distribution record unaided
Week 6: Can recommend a trust structure and document a discretionary resolution with reasoning
Week 8: Scores at least 75% on the timed mock exam with no domain below 60%