FIMS study plan

Map the full FIMS syllabus into a one-page tracker that tags every learning outcome to its domain weight and your confidence level

Build a personal glossary of at least 40 financial-market terms covering money market, bond, equity, FX, and commodity instruments, writing one-line definitions from memory

Compute price and yield for plain vanilla bonds and bills by hand, then verify with a spreadsheet, for at least 10 worked examples

Explain in writing how primary versus secondary markets and exchange versus OTC trading change liquidity and price discovery

Value equities using dividend discount, free-cash-flow, and relative multiples, and state when each model breaks down

Derive the drivers of duration and convexity and quantify price change for a 50bp and 100bp yield shift on three sample bonds

Restate a published annual report into a normalized three-statement model with at least five ratio diagnostics

Identify at least three valuation pitfalls (terminal value inflation, cyclical earnings, accounting distortions) and write a short critique of each

Compute and interpret free cash flow, working capital cycles, and DuPont decomposition for two contrasting companies

Explain how central bank policy rates transmit to bond yields, credit spreads, and equity discount rates

Distinguish inflation measures (headline, core, CPI, PPI, deflator) and describe which one matters for which asset class

Build a simple scenario grid linking GDP growth, inflation, and policy rate assumptions to expected returns for cash, bonds, and equities

Construct efficient frontiers for a three-asset portfolio in a spreadsheet and interpret the effect of correlation and constraints

Apply mean-variance, risk-parity, and strategic-plus-tactical approaches, and state the practical limits of each

Price forwards, futures, and basic options using no-arbitrage logic, and explain put-call parity from first principles

Identify the main risk types (market, credit, liquidity, operational) and match each to at least one measurement tool

Assemble an instrument comparison table covering risk, return, liquidity, tax treatment, and typical use in a client portfolio for at least 12 instrument types

Explain how derivatives are used to hedge, speculate, and arbitrage, with one worked hedging example per use

Calculate option Greeks numerically and describe how delta and gamma shift as expiry approaches

Describe counterparty and margin mechanics in cleared versus OTC derivative trades

Apply a fiduciary duty framework to four short ethical dilemmas and justify a defensible course of action for each

Outline know-your-client, suitability, and disclosure obligations and identify where they commonly fail in practice

Build a client risk-profile questionnaire and translate the results into an asset allocation recommendation

Draft a wealth plan covering retirement funding, education funding, and an emergency reserve for a hypothetical household

Rebalance and stress-test the sample client portfolio against a 20% equity drawdown and a 200bp rate rise

Recompute the client plan under two macro scenarios and document the changes you would recommend

Review corporate finance topics you scored weakest on, including capital structure, cost of capital, and project appraisal

Consolidate every formula used so far into a single reference sheet with one worked example per formula

Complete two timed mixed-topic mock exams under exam conditions and log every error by domain and cause

Rewrite your weakest 20 concepts into one-page summaries without consulting notes

Rehearse the calculation-heavy questions you missed until each is solved correctly twice in a row

Finalize an exam-day time-allocation and question-skipping strategy