A practical CSI IMT Exam 1 study plan with 30-day, 60-day, and 90-day tracks aligned to the official weighting, current IMT route note, and matching web practice.
Use this plan with the Exam Guide, the Cheat Sheet, the FAQ, the Resources, and IMT Exam 1 practice on Finance Prep.
IMT Exam 1 improves fastest when you train the recognition chain in the right order:
wrong IPS or constraint, wrong product or valuation logic, and wrong monitoring or performance logic.CSI lists 80 – 100 hours of study for IMT overall. Use that as a reality check, then choose a schedule that lets you cover the full IMT chapter map plus review.
| Weekly study time | Timeline | Total hours (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| 18–25 hrs/week | 30 days | 72–100 |
| 10–14 hrs/week | 60 days | 80–112 |
| 6–9 hrs/week | 90 days | 72–108 |
| Study stage | What you are stabilizing |
|---|---|
| IPS and risk-profile work first | the framework that makes later allocation and product decisions defensible |
| allocation and implementation second | the portfolio-construction layer that controls many later scenarios |
| equity and fixed income third | the largest security-analysis blocks and the main formula layer |
| managed, international, risk, and monitoring last | the modifiers that improve portfolio judgment once the core structure is stable |
| Week | Chapters / topics | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ch. 1–4 (Policy, risk profile, allocation, investment mgmt) | Build IPS + allocation templates; drill weights/rebalancing and risk-profile concepts. |
| 2 | Ch. 5–8 (Equities + analysis + technical) | Focus on drivers and valuation intuition; drill ratios + “what matters in the scenario”. |
| 3 | Ch. 9–11 (Fixed income + pricing + duration) | Make duration/convexity automatic; drill curve/price sensitivity questions. |
| 4 | Ch. 12–18 (Managed products, intl/tax, risk, impediments, monitoring) | Focus on fees/turnover and performance measures; finish with mixed sets and review. |
| Weeks | Chapters / topics | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ch. 1 (Portfolio process + IPS) | Write an IPS template; drill “identify constraints” questions. |
| 2 | Ch. 2 (Risk profile + behavioural) | Bias → best response; learn questionnaire limitations. |
| 3 | Ch. 3–4 (Allocation + investment mgmt today) | Drill weights/rebalancing; active vs passive trade-offs. |
| 4–5 | Ch. 5–8 (Equities) | Top-down + company analysis; ratio/valuation practice and interpretation. |
| 6 | Ch. 9–11 (Fixed income) | Bond pricing intuition + duration; ladder/barbell/bullet logic. |
| 7 | Ch. 12–13 (Managed + alternatives) | Structure/fees/liquidity; build a due diligence checklist. |
| 8 | Ch. 14–18 (Intl/tax + risk + impediments + monitoring) | After-tax thinking + risk controls + performance evaluation; finish mixed sets. |
| Weeks | Chapters / topics | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| 1–2 | Ch. 1–2 (Policy + risk profile) | Build IPS + bias notes; drill small sets weekly. |
| 3–4 | Ch. 3–4 (Allocation + investment mgmt today) | Rebalancing math + implementation trade-offs. |
| 5–7 | Ch. 5–8 (Equities) | Spend extra time here; drill ratios + valuation interpretation. |
| 8–9 | Ch. 9–11 (Fixed income) | Duration/convexity intuition; practice curve questions. |
| 10 | Ch. 12–13 (Managed + alternatives) | Fees/turnover/structure; liquidity and suitability checklist. |
| 11 | Ch. 14–17 (Intl/tax + risk + impediments) | Currency/tax basics + risk tools; compounding/fee drag. |
| 12 | Ch. 18 + mixed review | Benchmarks + return measures; 2–3 mixed sets and review misses. |
Use the new section lessons as the default reading order after the first overview pass.
| Exam topic | Weight | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| International Investing, Investment Risk and Impediments to Wealth Accumulation | 20% | the largest combined block and the one that blends portfolio context with modifiers |
| Equity Securities | 19% | one of the biggest valuation and security-choice blocks |
| Managed Products | 19% | structure, fees, and use-case judgment show up constantly |
| Debt Securities | 17% | the main rate-sensitivity and pricing block |
IPS or constraint -> stronger allocation or product rule -> better answer -> why the distractor fails.Use IMT Exam 1 practice on Finance Prep in phases:
| Stage | What to do |
|---|---|
| after IPS and allocation review | short timed sets for client-constraint and weights or rebalancing recognition |
| after equity and fixed-income review | mixed sets for valuation, yield, and product comparison |
| final two weeks | full timed sets with miss-log cleanup and pacing work |
CIM designation, so confirm your current route directly with CSI if registration or designation status matters.Sources: https://www.csi.ca/en/learning/courses/imt/curriculum and https://www.csi.ca/en/learning/courses/imt/exam-credits