Certified International Investment Analyst - CIIA Requirements

CIIA Requirements

To be awarded the CIIA, candidates must pass two "Common Knowledge" Exams and a third National/Regional Exam, examining knowledge of specific markets. Candidates must also have 3 years relevant experience and be a member of ACIIA, as well as of their local or regional society. The exams are taken twice per year and are written at a postgraduate level; they require 18 hours in total, and the recommended number of hours to study and prepare the exams is about 500 hours, which comes to about 1 or 1.5 hours a day on average.

• The Common Knowledge Exam consists of four papers at the "Foundation level", and two at the "Final level". The foundation level papers, in turn, comprise multiple choice, calculation, discursive and short essay questions. The final level exams comprise case studies and in-depth essays. The topics covered at both levels are: Equity valuation and analysis; Financial accounting and statement analysis; Corporate Finance; Fixed income valuation and analysis; Economics; Derivative valuation and analysis; Portfolio management.

• The National / Regional Exam is set by the individual national/regional societies and examines knowledge of specific markets. Topics covered: Regulation; Ethics; Financial statement analysis; Market structures and instruments.