Quick facts (official CSI exam structure)
- Proctored (remote or in-person at a test centre)
- Duration: 3 hours
- Question format: Multiple Choice
- Questions: 100
- Attempts allowed per exam: 3
- Passing grade: 60%
- Hours of study (CSI estimate): 70 – 95 Hours
What PMT is really testing
PMT tends to reward candidates who can:
- connect governance + mandate constraints to portfolio decisions
- understand how an investment management firm actually runs (front/middle/back office)
- choose appropriate techniques for equity and fixed income portfolios
- explain permitted/controlled use of derivatives in mutual funds
- interpret client reporting and performance attribution without getting lost in jargon
Official topic weighting (and target question counts)
Source: CSI PMT Exam & Credits page.
| Exam Topics |
Weight |
Target questions (out of 100) |
Chapters (CSI curriculum) |
| Regulation and Ethics |
10% |
10 |
1–2 |
| The Institutional Portfolio Management Process |
8% |
8 |
3 |
| Portfolio Management Organization and Operations |
16% |
16 |
4–5 |
| Managing Equity Portfolios |
16% |
16 |
6 |
| Managing Fixed Income Portfolios |
19% |
19 |
7–8 |
| Permitted Use of Derivatives in Mutual Funds |
5% |
5 |
9 |
| Creating New Portfolio Management Mandates |
10% |
10 |
10 |
| Alternative Investment Management |
11% |
11 |
11 |
| Client Portfolio Reporting and Performance Attribution |
5% |
5 |
12 |
How to prepare (practical strategy)
- Use the Syllabus as your checklist by weighting.
- Build a compact “formula + definitions” pack from the Cheatsheet.
- Drill operations + governance with scenario prompts: “who does what next?” and “what must be documented?”
- Do weekly timed mixed sets; keep a miss log focused on: rule/definition, formula, and the decision cue you missed.
✅ Next: open the Study Plan or jump into the Syllabus.
Sources: https://www.csi.ca/en/learning/courses/pmt/curriculum and https://www.csi.ca/en/learning/courses/pmt/exam-credits