FTIP study guide
FTIP · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
FTIP is a professional certification exam in financial products, investment analysis, and advisory practice. The exam is delivered in multiple-choice format and spans six domains: financial products and markets; investment analysis and valuation; portfolio management and asset allocation; risk management; regulation, ethics, and professional standards; and client advisory and financial planning. The FTIP study guide has 6 sections and about 2,572 words.
01Financial Products and Markets
The Financial Products and Markets domain tests whether you can identify instruments, map how they trade, and calculate the costs and cash flows of a transaction. Questions often combine product knowledge with market microstructure: primary versus secondary issuance, exchange versus OTC trading, order types, settlement, margin, and the economics of the bid-ask spread.
422 words, about 2 min02Investment Analysis and Valuation
Investment Analysis and Valuation tests whether you can convert forecasts into a defensible value and explain the drivers. Expect discounted cash flow (DCF), relative valuation, bond pricing and duration, cost of capital, and the difference between enterprise and equity value.
442 words, about 2 min03Portfolio Management and Asset Allocation
Portfolio Management and Asset Allocation tests whether you can build a portfolio consistent with an investment policy statement (IPS), quantify risk and return, and explain diversification. Expect modern portfolio theory, the efficient frontier, CAPM and beta, the Sharpe ratio, strategic versus tactical allocation, rebalancing, and performance attribution.
411 words, about 2 min04Risk Management
Risk Management tests whether you can identify, measure, and control exposures across market, credit, liquidity, and operational risk. Expect value at risk (VaR), expected shortfall, stress testing, duration and convexity, hedging with derivatives, counterparty risk, and the limits of statistical models.
446 words, about 2 min05Regulation, Ethics, and Professional Standards
Regulation, Ethics, and Professional Standards tests whether you can apply conduct rules to real conflicts, information flows, and client interactions. Expect fiduciary or suitability duties, conflicts of interest, material non-public information (MNPI), market abuse, best execution, AML/KYC, client asset protection, confidentiality, recordkeeping, and fair dealing.
443 words, about 2 min06Client Advisory and Financial Planning
Client Advisory and Financial Planning tests whether you can translate a client's goals, constraints, and behavior into a suitable plan and monitor it over time. Expect know-your-client (KYC), risk tolerance versus risk capacity, the investment policy statement, goal funding, tax and liquidity planning, retirement and insurance needs, behavioral biases, and documentation.
408 words, about 2 min