AIS Overview — What’s Tested and How to Prepare

Official exam snapshot (CSI)

Official exam weightings (AIS)

What AIS is really testing

AIS rewards candidates who can do three things consistently:

• Translate client facts into constraints: horizon, liquidity, risk capacity, and tax context.
• Choose the right tool: allocation logic, valuation intuition, fixed-income sensitivity, and product selection discipline.
• Explain trade-offs: why the recommendation fits, what risks matter most, and what would trigger a review.

High-yield focus areas

• Risk profile + behavioural finance: how to interpret questionnaires and biases.
• Equity and fixed-income selection: drivers, valuation intuition, and risk trade-offs.
• Fund selection + portfolio solutions: fees, turnover, mandate fit, and monitoring triggers.
• Alternatives + international: structure/liquidity risks and currency/tax frictions.
• Wealth impediments: fee drag, taxes, inflation, and behavioural errors.

How to prepare

1. Work the Syllabus like a checklist (coverage beats rereading).
2. Build your personal formula sheet from the Cheatsheet and drill it until it’s automatic.
3. Do weekly mixed sets and keep a miss log: concept, formula, why the wrong choice looked right.

Sources: https://www.csi.ca/en/learning/courses/ais/curriculum and https://www.csi.ca/en/learning/courses/ais/exam-credits