CSI Canadian Securities Course Exam 2 Cheat Sheet

May 1, 2026

Review a compact Canadian Securities Course Exam 2 cheat sheet for investment analysis, portfolio analysis, mutual funds, ETFs, alternative products, taxation, retail clients, and institutional mandates before Finance Prep practice.

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Use this CSC Exam 2 cheat sheet as a portfolio-and-client checklist before mixed practice. The exam usually rewards candidates who can move from product facts into client constraints, tax effects, portfolio fit, and mandate-appropriate recommendations.

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Exam snapshot

Item	CSC Exam 2 cue
Provider	CSI
Exam	Canadian Securities Course Exam 2
Format	100 multiple-choice questions in 2 hours
Main practice behavior	investment analysis, portfolio judgment, managed products, tax, and client-fit decisions
Finance Prep status	live practice available

Topic checklist

Area	What to know	Common trap
Investment analysis	ratios, valuation cues, performance signals, market data, risk evidence	stopping at the metric instead of deciding what it means
Portfolio analysis	asset allocation, diversification, risk/return, rebalancing, benchmark fit	evaluating holdings one by one without checking the whole portfolio
Mutual funds	fund structure, objectives, fees, MERs, classes, liquidity, disclosure	treating all diversified funds as interchangeable
Exchange-traded funds	market trading, tracking, liquidity, bid/ask, NAV, cost structure	assuming ETF execution always occurs at NAV
Alternatives and structured products	liquidity, leverage, complexity, guarantees, valuation, transparency	choosing headline return without checking risk and access constraints
Canadian taxation	income, capital gains, dividends, registered plans, after-tax return	recommending before checking the account and tax context
Retail and institutional clients	account model, objectives, constraints, mandate, reporting, service scope	mixing retail advice logic with institutional mandate logic

Must-know distinctions

Gross return versus after-fee return: MERs, charges, and account fees can change the best answer.
Pre-tax versus after-tax outcome: tax treatment can change a product or account recommendation.
Mutual fund versus ETF: fund accounting and exchange-traded execution create different decision points.
Alternative fund versus conventional fund: liquidity, leverage, and complexity require extra fit checks.
Retail client objective versus institutional mandate: the decision framework differs.
Benchmark return versus manager skill: performance must be judged against risk and mandate.
Asset allocation versus security selection: portfolio fit starts with allocation and constraints.

Common traps

Chasing past performance instead of checking risk, liquidity, cost, and client objective.
Treating a product wrapper as suitable without considering the account and tax result.
Missing whether a question asks for portfolio-level change or individual security selection.
Comparing performance against the wrong benchmark.
Ignoring liquidity or redemption constraints for managed and alternative products.

Practice strategy

After each CSC Exam 2 set, classify misses by analysis, portfolio construction, product wrapper, tax effect, or client context. If product labels feel easy but recommendations are weak, drill client constraints and portfolio-fit questions before more mixed practice.

Revised on Friday, May 22, 2026

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