PMT Overview — Exam Format, Weighting, and How to Study

PMT® overview (official CSI structure): 100 multiple-choice questions in 3 hours, topic weightings, what gets tested, and a practical study strategy.

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 TopicsWeightTarget questions (out of 100)Chapters (CSI curriculum)
Regulation and Ethics10%101–2
The Institutional Portfolio Management Process8%83
Portfolio Management Organization and Operations16%164–5
Managing Equity Portfolios16%166
Managing Fixed Income Portfolios19%197–8
Permitted Use of Derivatives in Mutual Funds5%59
Creating New Portfolio Management Mandates10%1010
Alternative Investment Management11%1111
Client Portfolio Reporting and Performance Attribution5%512

How to prepare (practical strategy)

  1. Use the Syllabus as your checklist by weighting.
  2. Build a compact “formula + definitions” pack from the Cheatsheet.
  3. Drill operations + governance with scenario prompts: “who does what next?” and “what must be documented?”
  4. 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