A practical CSI CSC Exam 2 study plan with 30-day, 60-day, and 90-day tracks aligned to the official weighting, current route note, and exact web practice.
Use this plan with the Guide Home, the Cheat Sheet, the FAQ, the Official Resources, and exact CSC Exam 2 practice on MasteryExamPrep.
CSC Exam 2 improves fastest when you train the portfolio-decision chain in the right order:
CSI’s official guidance for the CSC course is 135 – 200 hours of study (the course includes two exams). Use that as a reality check, then choose a schedule that lets you cover Chapters 13–27 plus review.
Source: https://www.csi.ca/en/learning/courses/csc/exam-credits
wrong analysis lens, wrong portfolio logic, and wrong product or account fit.| Study stage | What you are stabilizing |
|---|---|
| investment and portfolio analysis first | the frame that controls most later product questions |
| funds and ETFs second | the core packaged-product shelf once portfolio logic is clear |
| alternatives and structured products third | the higher-risk implementation layer |
| taxation and client workflow last | the finishing layer that turns analysis into a defensible recommendation |
| Week | Focus | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Investment analysis | Fundamental versus technical, company analysis, and ratio interpretation. |
| 2 | Portfolio approach and process | Diversification, allocation, IPS logic, and rebalancing decisions. |
| 3 | Mutual funds and ETFs | Structure, NAV, trading mechanics, fees, tracking, and product-fit questions. |
| 4 | Alternatives, taxation, accounts, and client workflow | Alternatives, structured products, tax concepts, fee-based accounts, retail versus institutional workflow, and mixed timed sets. |
Target pace: ~6–9 hours/week.
| Week | Focus | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chapter 13–14 | Investment analysis; summarize each chapter into a one‑page note. |
| 2 | Chapter 15–16 | Portfolio approach + process; build IPS “if X then Y” rules. |
| 3 | Chapter 17–18 | Mutual funds: structure, regulation, types, and features; drill terminology and fee mechanics. |
| 4 | Chapter 19 | ETFs: creation/redemption intuition, trading costs, premiums/discounts, tracking. |
| 5 | Chapter 20–21 | Alternatives: benefits/risks, strategies, and performance interpretation (concept). |
| 6 | Chapter 22–23 | Other managed + structured products; focus on payoff + credit/liquidity risks. |
| 7 | Chapter 24–25 | Canadian taxation concepts + fee‑based accounts; build an after‑tax/fee “mental model.” |
| 8 | Chapter 26–27 + review | Retail and institutional client workflow; finish with mixed sets and gap-closing. |
Target pace: ~3–5 hours/week.
| Week | Focus | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| 1–2 | Chapters 13–14 | Investment analysis; one concept block + one drill weekly. |
| 3–4 | Chapters 15–16 | Portfolio approach + process; build decision tables. |
| 5–6 | Chapters 17–18 | Mutual funds; fee mechanics + distribution vocabulary. |
| 7 | Chapter 19 | ETFs; trading and tracking logic. |
| 8–9 | Chapters 20–21 | Alternatives; benefits/risks and common strategies. |
| 10 | Chapters 22–23 | Managed + structured products; payoff and risk mapping. |
| 11 | Chapter 24 | Taxation concepts; focus on classification and after‑tax thinking. |
| 12 | Chapter 25 | Fee‑based accounts; fee math and suitability fit. |
| 13 | Chapters 26–27 + review | Retail versus institutional workflow; finalize formula sheet and glossary; do a full mixed review. |
| Domain | Weight | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Investment Analysis | 18% | one of the two heaviest blocks and the frame for later product questions |
| Portfolio Analysis | 18% | the other major block that controls recommendation logic |
| Alternative Investments, Other Managed, and Structured Products | 16% | a major source of near-miss product-fit errors |
| Mutual Funds | 14% | core packaged-product knowledge before ETF and alternatives comparisons |
client objective and constraint -> better analysis or portfolio lens -> stronger recommendation -> why the distractor fails.Use exact CSC Exam 2 practice on MasteryExamPrep in phases:
| Stage | What to do |
|---|---|
| after investment and portfolio analysis review | short timed sets for analysis and allocation recognition |
| after mutual funds, ETFs, and alternatives review | mixed sets for product-fit and client-fit questions |
| final two weeks | full timed sets with miss-log cleanup and pacing work |
Sources: https://www.csi.ca/en/learning/courses/csc/exam-credits and https://www.csi.ca/en/learning/courses/csc/curriculum