Use this syllabus as your coverage checklist for PMT. Topic weightings and exam structure are from CSI’s official Exam & Credits page; chapter mapping follows the official Curriculum page.
What’s covered
Regulation and Ethics (10%)
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Chapter 1 - Portfolio Management: Overview
- Define the role of a portfolio manager and distinguish discretionary portfolio management from advisory (non-discretionary) services.
- Identify the core responsibilities of portfolio managers across the investment lifecycle: research, portfolio construction, trading, monitoring, and reporting.
- Describe the typical components of an institutional investment mandate (objective, benchmark, constraints, and risk limits).
- Identify registration categories under National Instrument (NI) 31-103 relevant to portfolio management activity.
- Describe how registration category affects permitted activities, supervision, and accountability in the investment industry.
- Recognize the role of Canadian securities regulators and self-regulatory bodies in setting and enforcing investment industry rules.
- Describe high-level regulatory expectations for client-first conduct, conflict management, disclosure, and recordkeeping in portfolio management.
- Identify best practices that reduce operational and fiduciary risk (documentation discipline, controls, segregation of duties, and oversight).
- Explain why benchmark selection and mandate clarity are essential to suitability, evaluation, and client expectations.
- Describe how managed accounts operate within a CIRO dealer member context at a high level.
- Identify common managed-account setup requirements: mandate agreement, discretionary authority (where applicable), and client documentation.
- Recognize how trade execution, settlement, and custody connect to portfolio management outcomes and client experience.
- Describe the purpose of internal policies and procedures for consistent decision-making and audit readiness.
- Identify common risk categories a portfolio manager must manage (market, credit, liquidity, operational, and compliance risk).
- Explain how governance and supervision help ensure portfolios stay aligned with mandates and regulatory expectations.
Chapter 2 - Ethics and Portfolio Management
- Define ethics in the context of portfolio management and distinguish ethical standards from minimum legal compliance.
- Explain why trust is central to portfolio management relationships, especially when discretionary authority is granted.
- Identify common conflicts of interest in investment management (fees, personal trading, allocation decisions, and soft benefits) at a high level.
- Describe the purpose of a code of ethics and the behaviours it is designed to enforce.
- Recognize the importance of confidentiality and proper information handling for client data and sensitive market information.
- Explain fiduciary duty at a high level and describe how it shapes decision-making for managed portfolios.
- Describe how disclosure, documentation, and avoidance can be used to manage conflicts appropriately.
- Apply a structured ethical decision process: gather facts, identify stakeholders, consider rules, evaluate options, and choose defensible actions.
- Recognize behaviours that can undermine client trust (misleading communication, selective disclosure, and misaligned incentives).
- Identify the importance of competence and due care in investment decisions and client communications.
- Explain why fair dealing and integrity matter for markets and clients, even when a decision appears profitable.
- Recognize when an issue should be escalated to compliance, supervision, or legal support.
- Describe the role of personal trading policies and restricted lists in preventing misconduct.
- Identify potential consequences of ethical lapses (client harm, disciplinary action, reputational damage, and regulatory sanctions).
- Explain how ethical culture and supervision reduce the likelihood of repeated conduct failures.
The Institutional Portfolio Management Process (8%)
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Chapter 3 - The Institutional Investor
- Describe financial intermediation and explain how institutional investors influence capital markets.
- Identify common types of institutional investors and their typical objectives (e.g., pensions, insurers, endowments, and foundations).
- Compare how different institutional investors differ in constraints such as liquidity needs, time horizon, and risk tolerance.
- Explain how liabilities and spending obligations shape institutional asset allocation decisions at a conceptual level.
- Describe governance structures used by institutional investors (board, investment committee, staff, and external advisers).
- Differentiate the roles of asset owners, investment managers, consultants, and custodians in an institutional framework.
- Describe how institutional investment policy documents guide decision-making and accountability.
- Explain how benchmarks are used to define objectives and evaluate manager performance.
- Describe a high-level process for selecting external managers (screening, due diligence, mandate design, and onboarding).
- Identify the purpose of monitoring and review processes (performance, risk, adherence, and operational oversight).
- Recognize governance risks and red flags (unclear mandates, weak oversight, and inconsistent reporting).
- Describe how delegation and oversight are balanced in an institutional setting (mandate + controls).
- Identify common institutional constraints that must be reflected in mandates (legal, regulatory, and fiduciary constraints).
- Explain why documentation quality matters for institutional decision-making and audit trails.
- Summarize how effective governance supports consistent portfolio outcomes over time.
Portfolio Management Organization and Operations (16%)
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Chapter 4 - The Investment Management Firm
- Identify common ownership structures for investment management firms and explain how structure can influence incentives and governance.
- Describe typical compensation structures and recognize where incentives can create conflicts with client outcomes.
- Identify the purpose of licensing and regulatory registration for investment management firms at a high level.
- Describe common organizational structures in investment management (investment, trading, risk, compliance, operations, and distribution).
- Differentiate investor types served by investment managers and how service expectations can vary across segments.
- Describe service channels used by investment management firms to deliver products and relationships.
- Explain how investment mandates are structured and why mandate clarity reduces the risk of style drift.
- Describe the roles and responsibilities of institutional investment managers from mandate design through ongoing monitoring.
- Explain the components of investment management fees and how fees affect net performance for clients.
- Recognize why fee transparency and disclosure are essential for client trust and regulatory expectations.
- Identify common industry challenges (competition, fee pressure, regulatory change, technology, and operational complexity).
- Describe corporate governance concepts as applied to an investment management firm (oversight, policies, controls, and accountability).
- Recognize the importance of policies for personal trading, gifts/entertainment, and information barriers in maintaining integrity.
- Describe how sales and relationship management interact with investment teams and how conflicts are managed.
- Explain how risk management and compliance integrate into day-to-day investment decision processes.
Chapter 5 - The Front, Middle, and Back Offices
- Define the functions of the front office, middle office, and back office in an investment management firm.
- Identify key functional areas typically included in the front office (research, portfolio management, trading, and client/distribution roles).
- Describe how information flows from research to portfolio decisions to execution and then to operations and reporting.
- Recognize front-office best practices that reduce errors and conflicts (documentation, approvals, and clear accountability).
- Describe how investment management firms acquire institutional clients and what differentiates successful proposals at a high level.
- Identify common reasons investment managers lose mandates (performance, style drift, communication failures, and operational issues).
- Explain the role of the middle office in risk monitoring, compliance support, performance measurement, and trade oversight.
- Describe the trade lifecycle from order creation through execution, allocation, confirmation, settlement, and reconciliation.
- Identify common operational controls that prevent or detect trade errors, failed settlements, and inaccurate records.
- Explain the role of the back office in settlement, accounting, recordkeeping, and report production.
- Describe the importance of reconciliation for cash, positions, and performance to maintain data integrity.
- Recognize operational risks and how they can impact clients (pricing errors, breaks, cyber incidents, and process failures).
- Explain why segregation of duties reduces fraud and operational risk within the investment process.
- Describe how middle and back office functions support regulatory reporting and audit readiness.
- Identify practical service quality measures for operational teams (accuracy, timeliness, and exception handling).
Managing Equity Portfolios (16%)
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Chapter 6 - Managing Equity Portfolios
- Differentiate top-down and bottom-up approaches to equity portfolio management and identify where each approach adds value.
- Describe common equity portfolio management styles (value, growth, core, dividend, small-cap, and sector tilts) at a high level.
- Distinguish active and passive equity management and explain how benchmark tracking influences portfolio construction.
- Describe a portfolio construction workflow for equities: universe definition, screening, diversification, position sizing, and rebalancing.
- Identify key risk controls used in equity portfolios (concentration limits, sector limits, liquidity constraints, and factor awareness).
- Explain the role of benchmarks and style classifications in setting expectations and evaluating equity managers.
- Describe how derivatives may be used in equity portfolio management for hedging and efficient exposure management (conceptual).
- Identify common risks associated with derivative use in equity portfolios (leverage, basis risk, liquidity, and operational controls).
- Explain why transaction costs and turnover matter in equity portfolio outcomes and manager evaluation.
- Describe tax considerations that can affect equity portfolio decisions (realized gains/losses and after-tax performance focus).
- Explain tax-aware portfolio techniques at a high level (deferral and loss realization where appropriate to the mandate).
- Compare using individual securities versus exchange-traded funds (ETFs) for equity implementation (cost, liquidity, diversification).
- Describe ETF benefits and limitations for equity portfolios, including tracking difference and liquidity considerations.
- Interpret high-level performance drivers for equity portfolios (allocation, selection, and style exposure).
- Recognize common equity portfolio pitfalls (style drift, overconcentration, and ignoring liquidity constraints).
Managing Fixed Income Portfolios (19%)
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Chapter 7 - Managing Fixed-Income Portfolios: Trading Operations, Management Styles, and Box Trades
- Describe how fixed-income trading differs from equity trading (OTC market structure, dealer intermediation, and liquidity).
- Identify key steps in fixed-income trade execution and settlement at a high level.
- Explain common fixed-income trading considerations (bid-ask spreads, market depth, and price transparency).
- Recognize how liquidity constraints and transaction costs affect fixed-income portfolio rebalancing decisions.
- Describe common bond portfolio management styles (passive indexing, immunization, and active duration/curve strategies).
- Explain duration as an interest rate sensitivity measure and describe how managers use it to control portfolio risk.
- Describe how portfolio managers position around the yield curve (term, curve, and sector exposures) at a conceptual level.
- Explain the purpose of box trades as a fixed-income relative value approach to express spread views while managing risk exposures.
- Identify key risks in box trades (spread widening, financing effects, and liquidity risk).
- Describe how benchmark constraints influence fixed-income portfolio positioning and risk limits.
- Recognize key operational needs in fixed-income trading (documentation, confirmations, and compliance checks).
- Describe accrued interest and settlement conventions at a high level and how they affect trade economics.
- Explain how derivatives (e.g., futures or swaps) can be used to manage duration and curve exposure conceptually.
- Describe how bond management style choices can affect turnover and operational workload.
- Recognize common fixed-income pitfalls (overestimating liquidity, ignoring convexity effects, and mismatching benchmark risk).
Chapter 8 - Managing Fixed Income Portfolios: Other Bond Portfolio Construction Techniques, High Yield Bonds, and ETFs
- Compare bond portfolio construction techniques such as laddering, bullets, barbells, and cash-flow matching at a high level.
- Explain immunization conceptually and describe the intuition behind matching interest rate exposure to liabilities or objectives.
- Describe key credit analysis considerations used in bond portfolio construction (credit quality, spread compensation, and diversification).
- Explain the characteristics of high-yield (junk) bonds and the typical risk/return trade-off relative to investment-grade bonds.
- Identify the unique risks of high-yield bonds (default, downgrade, liquidity, and event risk).
- Describe diversification approaches in high-yield portfolios (issuer, sector, maturity, and quality constraints).
- Explain how fixed-income ETFs can be used to implement bond exposure efficiently in portfolios.
- Identify risks and limitations of fixed-income ETFs (tracking difference, liquidity mismatch, and pricing during stress).
- Compare using individual bonds versus bond funds/ETFs for institutional implementation (precision, liquidity, and operational complexity).
- Explain the relationship between yields and bond prices and describe how duration approximations support risk assessment.
- Describe reinvestment risk and explain why coupon and maturity structure matters to outcomes.
- Recognize call features and prepayment-related risks at a conceptual level and how they can affect portfolio behaviour.
- Describe how benchmark selection shapes constraints and evaluation for fixed-income portfolios.
- Interpret yield spread measures conceptually (credit spreads and term spreads) as inputs to portfolio decisions.
- Recognize common pitfalls in fixed-income management (chasing yield without credit understanding and ignoring liquidity constraints).
Permitted Use of Derivatives in Mutual Funds (5%)
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Chapter 9 - The Permitted Uses of Derivatives by Mutual Funds
- Identify types of mutual funds that commonly use derivatives (hedged, index-linked, alternative, or income-enhancement mandates).
- Describe high-level regulatory themes governing mutual fund derivative use (constraints, disclosure, and risk management expectations).
- Identify common derivative instruments used by mutual funds (options, futures, forwards, and swaps).
- Describe how mutual funds use derivatives for hedging key risks such as interest rate, equity market, and currency risk.
- Describe how mutual funds use derivatives for efficient portfolio management (e.g., gaining or adjusting exposure) at a conceptual level.
- Explain income enhancement strategies that involve derivatives (e.g., covered call overlays) and the trade-offs involved.
- Identify advantages of derivatives in fund management (precision, cost efficiency, and risk control potential).
- Identify potential risks of derivatives (leverage, counterparty risk, liquidity risk, and operational complexity).
- Describe how margin and collateral requirements can affect fund liquidity management.
- Recognize the importance of policies, limits, and oversight in a derivatives program (governance and controls).
- Distinguish hedging use from speculative use within the context of fund objectives and restrictions.
- Describe the concept of embedded leverage and explain how it can amplify outcomes.
- Identify how derivative positions can change portfolio risk measures and tracking relative to benchmarks.
- Recognize disclosure and reporting considerations for derivative strategies (transparency and client understanding).
- Explain how compliance oversight helps ensure derivative use stays consistent with regulations and mandate intent.
Creating New Portfolio Management Mandates (10%)
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Chapter 10 - Creating New Portfolio Management Mandates
- Describe the new investment product development process from idea generation through design, review, and launch.
- Identify key stakeholders in mandate development (portfolio management, risk, compliance, operations, and distribution).
- Define investment mandate elements: objective, benchmark, eligible instruments, constraints, and risk limits.
- Explain how investment guidelines translate objectives and constraints into measurable rules for portfolio management.
- Identify common investment restrictions used in mandates (concentration limits, leverage limits, permitted derivatives, and liquidity constraints).
- Describe the purpose of documented guidelines and restrictions in reducing ambiguity and supporting compliance.
- Explain how scenario analysis, back-testing, or stress testing can support strategy validation (conceptual).
- Identify operational considerations when launching a new mandate (data, trading, valuation, and reporting readiness).
- Describe how fee structures are determined and how fees should align with strategy complexity and competitiveness.
- Recognize capacity constraints and explain how liquidity and market impact can limit strategy scalability.
- Describe an institutional RFP/proposal process at a high level and what clients evaluate when selecting managers.
- Identify the purpose of legal documentation and disclosures in defining responsibilities and managing expectations.
- Explain why marketing language must align with the actual mandate and portfolio construction approach (avoid style drift promises).
- Describe change control for mandates (how updates are approved, documented, and communicated).
- Recognize common failure points in mandate design (unclear benchmark, unrealistic constraints, and underestimating operational needs).
Alternative Investment Management (11%)
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Chapter 11 - Alternative Investments
- Define alternative investments and distinguish them from traditional public equities and investment-grade fixed income.
- Identify common categories of alternative investments (hedge funds, private equity, private credit, real assets, and commodities) at a high level.
- Explain reasons investors allocate to alternatives (diversification, return enhancement, inflation protection, and illiquidity premia).
- Describe key issues and challenges with alternative investments (complexity, transparency, valuation, and liquidity constraints).
- Identify unique risks of alternative investments (illiquidity, leverage, valuation risk, and manager risk).
- Explain why operational due diligence is critical in alternatives and what it seeks to validate (controls and processes).
- Describe due diligence steps for alternative managers (strategy, team, track record, risk management, operations, legal, and fees).
- Explain common alternative fee structures and how they can affect net returns (management and performance fees conceptually).
- Describe how alternative investments are sized and integrated within an overall portfolio (allocation and risk budgeting concepts).
- Explain liquidity terms (lock-ups, redemption frequency, gates) and how they affect portfolio liquidity planning.
- Identify common hedge fund strategy families at a high level and the risks they introduce.
- Describe private market characteristics such as capital calls and uneven cash flows at a conceptual level.
- Recognize how performance attribution for alternatives can differ when valuations are infrequent or smoothed.
- Identify common red flags in alternative investments (opaque valuations, excessive concentration, weak controls, and misaligned incentives).
- Describe how current trends can affect alternative investing themes (strategy innovation, regulation, and market structure changes) at a high level.
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- Explain the purpose of client portfolio reporting: transparency, oversight, decision support, and accountability.
- Identify core components of an institutional portfolio report (holdings, performance, risk, benchmark comparison, and fees).
- Describe how reporting frequency and detail should align with mandate complexity and client needs.
- Distinguish time-weighted and money-weighted return concepts and identify when each is appropriate.
- Calculate a basic holding period return and interpret it in the context of portfolio reporting.
- Explain why fee presentation and disclosure are essential when reporting performance (gross vs net concepts).
- Define performance attribution and explain its purpose in interpreting relative results.
- Differentiate allocation effect and selection effect in a high-level attribution framework (conceptual).
- Describe attribution considerations for multi-asset portfolios (asset class, sector, and security-level analysis) at a high level.
- Identify common performance measurement pitfalls (inconsistent periods, unadjusted cash flows, and stale valuations).
- Explain tracking error and information ratio as active management reporting metrics at a conceptual level.
- Describe how risk metrics may appear in client reporting (volatility, drawdown, duration, beta) and what they communicate.
- Explain the role of benchmarks in reporting and how benchmark mismatch can mislead evaluations.
- Recognize compliance considerations in reporting (fair representation, consistent methodology, and avoiding misleading claims).
- Describe how reporting and attribution outputs feed back into mandate reviews and portfolio decision-making.
Tip: For higher scores, practice turning a mandate constraint into a concrete portfolio action (position sizing, risk limit, hedging choice, or reporting decision).
Sources: https://www.csi.ca/en/learning/courses/pmt/curriculum and https://www.csi.ca/en/learning/courses/pmt/exam-credits