A practical CSI IMT Exam 1 study plan: 30-day intensive, 60-day balanced, and 90-day part-time schedules aligned to the official chapters and exam weightings.
IMT Exam 1 is broad. The fastest path is a repeatable loop:
Read → summarize into rules/formulas → drill questions → review misses → repeat.
CSI lists 80 – 100 hours of study for IMT overall. Here’s a practical translation for Exam 1:
| 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 |
| 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. |
Sources: https://www.csi.ca/en/learning/courses/imt/curriculum and https://www.csi.ca/en/learning/courses/imt/exam-credits