31863 Investment Assessment Solutions AY2026 | Professional IQ College

31863 Investment Assessment

Introduction

This assessment contains the information you need to determine competency for Investment:

Unit Standard 31863 — Demonstrate and apply knowledge of economic factors to provide investment solutions.

This document contains:

• Assessment Guidance
• Assessment Task 1-3
• Student Declaration Form
• Assessment Decision Form and Schedule Form

Assessment Guidance

The Assessment Process

To achieve the unit standard, you must complete and return to Professional IQ the following documents:

• Assessment answers for all questions or tasks
• Student declaration form completed and signed

The assessment is competency based and focuses on the application of learning in your future role as a financial adviser. The study guide provided for this unit standard contains the information necessary to develop your knowledge and understanding of investment concepts and principles.

The qualified assessor will use their professional judgement and subject-matter expertise to evaluate your assessment ensuring that it is:

• Valid: meets the outcomes and evidence requirements of the unit standard being assessed
• Fair: a fair representation of what you can do and or know against the outcomes of the unit standard
• Authentic: it must be your own work and must not be copied from any course materials or other sources
• Sufficient: answers must be full and complete enough for the assessor to judge competency
• Consistent: answers are consistent with the assessor guidelines and national consistency requirements.

The evidence you submit must comply with any policies & procedures of your organisation, codes of practice of relevant professional bodies or any relevant legislative and regulatory requirements.

Students With Specific Needs

If you have specific learning needs, you should have informed Professional IQ of these at the time of enrolment. This enables the Academic Manager to discuss what appropriate support is required for the student to complete their study and assessments.

The Assessor Role

The assessor will consider all written evidence provided by you and decide if it is competent or not yet competent.

The assessor may require you to provide more evidence on one or more questions or tasks, if in their judgement they feel the answer is insufficient or incorrect.

Where there is not enough evidence to make a decision on competency, your assessor will send you a Further Evidence Required request (FER) which means you will need to supply further information. They may contact you to have a professional conversation or to clarify a point in your answer.

The assessor will complete the Assessment Decision Form, including any feedback and return the result to you within 10 working days of receipt.

Please retain a copy of your assessment work and assessment results.

The Appeals Process

An explanation of the appeals process can be found in the Student Handbook located on Professional IQ under Student Resources.

If you disagree with an assessment decision, please follow the guide and complete an Assessment Appeal Form and send it to Student Support at Professional IQ. An independent assessor will be asked to investigate the appeal.

Resources

A copy of the unit standard can be downloaded from NZQA.

It is important you fully understand the outcomes and evidence requirements of the unit standard including any special notes, references and definitions applicable. The study guide is your main resource for this assessment.

You should read the study guide for this unit standard (as part of your course work) to enable you to answer the tasks listed in this assessment document.

References

This list is provided as a guide for students who are seeking further sources of information on this module:

• Code of Professional Conduct for Financial Advice Services;
• Consumer Guarantees Act 1993;
• Fair Trading Act 1986;
• Financial Markets Conduct Act 2013;
• Financial Services Legislation Amendment Act 2019;
• Income Tax Act 2007;
• KiwiSaver Act 2006;
• Trustee Act 1956;
• Trustee Amendment Act 1988;
• relevant industry codes of conduct;
  and all subsequent amendments and replacements.

Definitions

Investor perceptions — investor’s attitudes to investment that may be influenced by a wide range of factors such as return expectations, tolerance to volatility of income and capital, investor time frame and investment term, restrictions on redemptions or withdrawals, cultural background, level of financial understanding, previous personal experience.

Student Declaration Form

Complete and attach to your assessment answers before submitting for assessment

The Tasks you submit for assessment must be your own work and cannot be completed by another The Tasks you submit for assessment must be your own work and cannot be completed by another person. Initial each item on the list below to show you have read and understood the requirements of the assessment and that the submitted work is your own then sign the declaration.

Your own work means it cannot be copied from course materials or other text. Your answers must be in your own words.

I agree for my information to be shared with Ringa Hora Services Workforce Development Council (RHSWDC), the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) and the Ministry of Education (MoE) for the purposes of moderation to ensure consistency and for verifying, recording and management of results.

Signed: ………………………………………………………. Date: ……………………

31863 Assessment Tasks

You are expected to answer all the following questions in the blue shaded cells and save your assessment document with a new name with the unit standard number, your name and the date — e.g. 31859 John Smith 17 August

Task 1 (US 31863 PC 1.1 & 2.1; 1.2)

Describe the following economic factors and explain how these impact investor perceptions. Your answer should be approximately 100 words for each economic factor and include at least ONE key point describing the factor and ONE key point explaining an impact on investor perceptions (with a minimum of THREE key points in the answer).

• Official Cash Rate
• Rate of inflation
• Economic and political events
• Natural disasters
• Legislative and regulatory changes

Task 2 (US 31863 PC 2.2)

Describe in approximately 80 words each, how the economic factors you described in Task 1 affect investment products.

Task 3 (US 31863 3.1 & 3.2)

Case Study

Using your knowledge of the current economic environment in NZ (in relation to the economic factors discussed in Task 1), develop investment solutions for the clients in the below case study.

Your answer should be approximately 400 words and include at least THREE reasons, based on the economic factors in Task 1, for your selected investment solutions. You will need to reference THREE different economic factors. Those factors are:

• OCR
• Inflation rates
• Economic and political factors
• Natural disasters
• Legislative and regulatory changes

Mark and Mindy are in their early 50s (53 and 52 respectively). They have recently paid off the mortgage on their house, and have come to you for advice on where they should put the money they are no longer using to pay off the mortgage. Their house is valued at $850,000 and their mortgage repayments were $625.00 per week. They are not averse to using the equity in their house.

In addition to their house, Mark and Mindy have a term deposit of $12,500, with a remaining term of 6 months. The term deposit is invested at an interest rate of 4.5%. Mark also has a KiwiSaver account with a balance of $32,000. Both Mark and his employer are contributing at the minimum required amount of 3%. Mark’s annual salary is $65,000. Mindy is self-employed doing flowers for weddings. Her annual net income is approximately $30,000.

Their investment goal is to have an income of $350 per week after tax in retirement, in addition to the NZ Superannuation, to age 95. They would prefer to retire at age 65 but would work for an extra 3 years, if necessary, to achieve their retirement goal. They have completed a risk tolerance questionnaire and Mark has a growth or high balanced profile and Mindy has a balanced profile.

You will need to complete calculations for any assumptions made.

Investment Assessment Decision Form

The Assessment Decision Form is completed by the assessor and the results will be returned to you within 10 working days of receipt by the assessor of your assessment.

31863 Unit Standard Title: Demonstrate And Apply Knowledge Of Economic Factors To Provide Investment Solutions

Outcome 1: Demonstrate Knowledge Of Economic Factors That Impact Investor Perceptions.

1.1 Describe factors in the economic environment that impact investor perceptions.

Range: Factors may include but are not limited to — official cash rate, rate of inflation, economic and political events, natural disasters, legislative and regulatory changes.

1.2 Explain how these factors impact investor perceptions.

Outcome 2: Demonstrate Knowledge Of Economic Factors That Impact Investment Products.

2.1 Describe factors in the economic environment that impact investment products.

Range: Factors may include but are not limited to — official cash rate, rate of inflation, economic and political events, natural disasters, legislative and regulatory changes, investor perceptions.

2.2 Explain how factors in the economic environment affect investment products.

Outcome 3: Apply Knowledge Of Economic Factors That Impact Investor Perceptions And Products To Provide Investment Solutions To Clients.

3.1 Develop investment solutions that meet client needs using knowledge of economic factors that impact investor perceptions and products, and changes to them.

Range: Factors may include but are not limited to — official cash rate, rate of inflation, economic and political events, natural disasters, legislative and regulatory changes, investor perceptions.

3.2 Explain the reasoning for selected investment solutions.