A practical CSI Advanced Investment Strategies study plan with 30-day, 60-day, and 90-day tracks aligned to the official weighting, course-fit notes, and matching web practice.
Use this plan with the Exam Guide, the Cheat Sheet, the FAQ, the Resources, and AIS practice on Finance Prep.
AIS improves fastest when you keep the full decision chain visible:
constraint missed, wrong analysis tool, and wrong solution or protection choice.CSI lists 60 – 80 hours of study for AIS.
| Weekly study time | Timeline | Total hours (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| 18–20 hrs/week | 30 days | 72–80 |
| 9–11 hrs/week | 60 days | 72–88 |
| 5–7 hrs/week | 90 days | 60–84 |
| Study stage | What you are stabilizing |
|---|---|
| client and portfolio process first | the framing layer that controls many later solution questions |
| analysis second | the evidence base for product and allocation decisions |
| product and alternatives third | the implementation shelf once the client and analysis frame are clear |
| taxation, solutions, protection, and impediments last | the portfolio-finishing layer that depends on the first three stages |
| Week | Focus | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Client, discovery, risk profile, and process | Build the constraint checklist and behavioural-finance notes; drill client-fit scenarios. |
| 2 | Fundamental and technical analysis | Ratio, valuation, and signal interpretation; practice what actually matters in this scenario? questions. |
| 3 | Debt, funds, and alternatives | Fixed-income sensitivity, fund selection, and liquidity-structure risks. |
| 4 | International investing, taxation, solutions, protection, and impediments | Close the loop with after-tax and implementation questions, then run mixed timed sets. |
| Week | Focus | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Client and wealth context | Investor stages, objectives, and what changes constraints. |
| 2 | Discovery and behavioural profile | Build risk-framing notes and bias-response patterns. |
| 3 | Portfolio management process | Allocation process, monitoring, and rebalancing logic. |
| 4 | Fundamental analysis | Macro, industry, company, and ratio interpretation. |
| 5 | Technical analysis plus debt | Use technical tools as context, then shift to fixed-income and sensitivity intuition. |
| 6 | Funds and alternatives | Focus on mandate fit, fees, liquidity, structure, and suitability. |
| 7 | International investing and taxation | Currency, withholding, after-tax return, and cross-border friction. |
| 8 | Solutions, protection, impediments, and review | Finish with portfolio solutions, wealth-protection logic, and mixed timed sets. |
| Weeks | Focus | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| 1–2 | Client and process | Build discovery, risk-profile, and IPS-style notes. |
| 3–4 | Analysis | Fundamental and technical interpretation. |
| 5–6 | Debt and funds | Selection discipline and risk trade-offs. |
| 7 | Alternatives | Liquidity, valuation, and suitability checklist. |
| 8 | International investing | Currency and implementation effects. |
| 9 | Taxation | After-tax and wrapper-aware thinking. |
| 10 | Portfolio solutions | Turn analysis into practical client solutions. |
| 11 | Protection tools | Risk reduction, hedging, and wealth-preservation logic. |
| 12 | Impediments plus mixed review | Fix compounding, spending, and friction errors; finish with timed sets. |
| Exam topic | Weight | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Understanding the Client and the Portfolio Management Process | 19% | the heaviest block and the framing layer for the whole exam |
| Fundamental and Technical Analysis | 15% | the evidence layer for many later decisions |
| Analysis of Alternative Investment Products | 13% | a meaningful block and a common source of suitability mistakes |
| Analyzing and Selecting Debt and Mutual Fund Securities | 12% | core implementation knowledge |
| Portfolio Solutions Fundamentals | 12% | where analysis becomes a defensible recommendation |
| International Investing and Taxation | 11% | cross-border and after-tax logic affects many near-miss answers |
Use the section lessons as the default reading path after the first overview pass.
client objective and constraint -> correct analysis lens -> better solution -> why the distractor fails.Use AIS practice on Finance Prep in phases:
| Stage | What to do |
|---|---|
| after client and process review | short timed sets for framing and behavioural questions |
| after analysis plus debt and fund review | mixed sets for interpretation and product-fit questions |
| final two weeks | full timed sets with miss-log cleanup and pacing work |
Sources: https://www.csi.ca/en/learning/courses/ais/curriculum and https://www.csi.ca/en/learning/courses/ais/exam-credits