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CSI PMT Study Guide

CSI Portfolio Management Techniques study guide with topic weights, chapter and section lessons, mandate controls, operations review, Cheat Sheet, FAQs, and practice links.

Use this page as the main CSI Portfolio Management Techniques course guide. PMT is for discretionary and institutional portfolio-management work: mandates, controls, operations, equity and fixed-income techniques, alternatives, and reporting discipline matter as much as investment judgment itself.

Start with the weighted topics and section lessons below, then use the Cheat Sheet for formulas and final recall. Use matching web practice when you want timed mixed review, current progress tracking on Web, and a cleaner handoff from reading into exam-mode repetition.

PMT topic weights

High-yield starting points

Exam snapshot

ItemValue
ProviderCSI
Official course namePortfolio Management Techniques (PMT)
Current official exam structureProctored multiple-choice exam, 100 questions, 3 hours, 60% passing grade, 3 attempts
Highest-weight areasManaging Fixed Income Portfolios at 19%, then Portfolio Management Organization and Operations and Managing Equity Portfolios at 16% each
Practice statusfull exam-specific web practice is live
Current route noteas of April 13, 2026, CSI says that effective January 1, 2026 PMT is no longer acceptable for CIRO approval with an Investment Dealer, though CSI also notes there may be circumstances where PMT is accepted for the CIM designation

Where PMT fits

If the candidate mainly needs…Better first instinct
discretionary portfolio management, mandates, operations, and reportingPMT
advanced wealth-management strategy without the full institutional operating modelAIS
portfolio-management foundations before the advanced techniques layerIMT Exam 1 and IMT Exam 2

What stronger PMT answers usually do

  • identify the mandate, benchmark, or restriction before choosing the trade or technique
  • connect front, middle, and back office responsibilities to the investment decision
  • treat fixed income and equity choices as mandate and risk-budget decisions, not just market calls
  • keep reporting and attribution inside the same governance frame as construction and execution

Practice this exam

Use this free guide for review, then Start PMT Practice on Finance Prep for timed questions, topic drills, and detailed explanations.

In this section

Revised on Friday, May 29, 2026