Getting an Investment Management Certificate

An Investment Management Certificate is an introductory examination for any finance analysts in the UK. The Investment Management Certificate Panel, under the umbrella of the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Society of the UK, is responsible for all aspects of the IMC examination, including administration, the syllabus and official training manual. Candidates can obtain practice materials and other information from them. This article provides a guide to getting an Investment Management Certificate.

What is the IMC and who takes it?

The IMC The IMC is generally a mandatory first exam for those working in the industry. For investment firms, ensuring their employees have passed the IMC is considered the benchmark in the field, for regulatory purposes. It ensures that each individual working in investment management, have a standard level of knowledge and competency regarding skills. For those who have obtained their IMC, they can continue to advance their credentials by obtaining the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA). Who takes the IMC? Those taking the IMC exam come from a variety of backgrounds including: Investment Management, Investment Support Sales & Marketing Investment Administration

Examples of testing objectives and where to obtain practice materials

Testing objectives - examples According to the CFA Institute, since the field changes rapidly, the syllabus provided which lists areas and expected competencies in each area may also change frequently. Therefore, they recommend candidates to decide on a firm date on which they will be taking the exam, so that they have the proper syllabus outlining which they are expected to know. There are always two units within the test but the competencies under each may be altered. The two units are listed below, followed by examples of expected competencies within each taken from the syllabus for candidates to be tested from 1 September 2010 - 30 November 2011 – [Version 8]. Unit 1: Investment environment
Among other objectives, candidates are expected to be able to: - Demonstrate an understanding of the UK financial services industry, in its European and global context - Demonstrate an understanding of UK and international financial markets - Demonstrate an understanding of the regulation of financial services - Demonstrate the ability to apply the regulatory advice framework in practice for the consumer Unit 2: Investment practice Among other objectives candidates are expected to be able to: - Demonstrate an ability to evaluate the characteristics, inherent risks, behaviour and correlation of asset classes - Demonstrate an ability to analyse the characteristics, inherent risks, behaviours and relevant tax considerations of investment products - Demonstrate an understanding of the principles of investment performance measurement Obtaining training materials Training information for the IMC can be obtained from the CFA Society of UK website (2011), including practice materials and information about training workshops for the upcoming series of exams.