CISI Introduction to Securities and Investment study guide
CISI Introduction to Securities and Investment · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The CISI Introduction to Securities and Investment is a professional qualification offered by the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (CISI), a financial services professional body. It is designed for individuals starting careers in financial services or seeking a broad foundation in securities and investment. The CISI Introduction to Securities and Investment study guide has 8 sections and about 3,559 words.
01Financial Services Industry and Regulation
This domain tests how the UK's regulatory architecture fits together: who authorises firms, who supervises them prudentially, which rules govern conduct, and what redress exists when things go wrong. Questions typically ask you to place a firm, a person or a problem with the correct body or sourcebook.
503 words, about 3 min02Economic Environment
The Economic Environment domain tests whether you can read the macro backdrop against which investment decisions are made: how growth, inflation and interest rates are measured, who sets policy, and how those forces transmit into bond, equity and currency prices. Gross domestic product is the total output of goods and services; real GDP strips out inflation, nominal GDP does not.
437 words, about 2 min03Equities
Equities questions test your grasp of what a share actually confers, how companies raise and return capital, how corporate actions change the numbers, and how to compute the valuation ratios that appear in almost every paper. Ordinary shares carry voting rights, a variable dividend declared by the board, and a residual claim on assets after all creditors and preference shareholders.
448 words, about 2 min04Bonds
The Bonds domain tests fixed income mechanics: how a bond's price is quoted, the difference between coupon and yield, what drives price sensitivity, and how credit quality changes the risk picture. A bond is a loan to an issuer - a government (gilts), a company (corporate bonds), or a supranational - paying a coupon on a nominal (par) amount and redeeming at maturity.
425 words, about 2 min05Derivatives
Derivatives questions test whether you understand that these instruments derive value from an underlying asset, that they are zero-sum contracts rather than assets, and that leverage cuts both ways. Forwards are bespoke OTC contracts to trade at a future date; futures are standardised, exchange-traded and centrally cleared, marked to market daily with initial and variation margin.
448 words, about 2 min06Investment Funds and Collective Investment Schemes
This domain tests the structural differences between pooled vehicles - how they are priced, how they are charged, and why an investment trust behaves differently from a unit trust even when both hold the same shares. Unit trusts and OEICs (also called ICVCs) are open-ended: the fund creates and cancels units as investors buy and sell, and authorised funds are priced forward, at the next valuation point after the instruction is received.
432 words, about 2 min07Financial Planning and Advice
This domain tests the advice process end to end: gathering client information, assessing risk properly, selecting suitable wrappers and products, and documenting why the recommendation fits the client's objectives. Suitability questions dominate.
418 words, about 2 min08Client Services and Ethics
This domain tests how firms treat clients and how individuals behave when money, information and incentives collide. Expect scenario questions where the technically legal answer is not the ethical one, and vice versa.
448 words, about 2 min