Investment Foundations® Certificate
Learning Goals and Topics

Investment Foundations® Certificate
Learning Goals and Topics
Investment Foundations® Learning Goals
1. Give learners confidence and enhance credibility within their organizations by providing a basic understandingof the investment industry, including structure, functioning, ethical considerations, forces affecting its evolution,and commonly used vocabulary.
2. Elevate learners’ ability to think critically, ask the right questions, and innovate in the investment industry.
3. Give learners the foundational concepts, tools, and techniques needed in their careers to open more doors.
4. Give learners the ability to skillfully communicate and collaborate with and provide support to investment
management professionals.
5. Clarify job roles and responsibilities of those in the investment industry with whom they will work daily.
6. Provide proof of knowledge and understanding.

Course 1: Industry Overview and Structure
Module 1: Overview of the Investment Industry• Lesson 1: What is the Financial Services Industry?
• Lesson 2: How Economies Benefit from the Existence of the Investment Industry• Lesson 3: How Investors Benefit from the Existence of the Investment Industry• Lesson 4: Investment Industry Participants
Module 2: Structure of the Investment Industry• Lesson 1: Structure of Investment Firms• Lesson 2: Investment Firm Staff and Leadership• Lesson 3: Financial Institutions
Module 3: Introduction to Industry Services• Lesson 1: Investment Management Services• Lesson 2: Investment Information Services• Lesson 3: Trading Services
Module 4: Financial Planning Services and Introduction to FinTech• Lesson 1: Needs Served by the Investment Industry• Lesson 2: Financial Planning Services• Lesson 3: Introduction to FinTech• Lesson 4: FinTech Applications
Module 5: Investment Professionalism and Regulations• Lesson 1: Key Forces Driving the Investment Industry• Lesson 2: Ethics and the Investment Industry• Lesson 3: Financial Industry Regulation• Lesson 4: Objectives of Regulation• Lesson 5: Types of Regulation• Lesson 6: Consequences of Compliance Failure© 2023 CFA Institute. All rights reserved.

Course 2: Types and Functioning of Markets

Investment Foundations® Certificate
Learning Goals and Topics

Module 1: Types of Security Markets and Trading Venues• Lesson 1: Primary and Secondary Security Markets• Lesson 2: The Role of Issuers• Lesson 3: Primary Market Transactions• Lesson 4: Trading Venues• Lesson 5: Market Structures
Module 2: Order Processing and Opportunities with Decentralised Finance• Lesson 1: Positions• Lesson 2: Orders• Lesson 3: Clearing and Settlement• Lesson 4: Transaction Costs• Lesson 5: What is Decentralised Finance (DeFi)?
Module 3: Investment Vehicles: Pooled Investments, Exchange-Traded Funds, and Security Market Indices• Lesson 1: Direct and Indirect Investments• Lesson 2: Pooled Investments• Lesson 3: Security Market Indices• Lesson 4: Index Funds
Module 4: Investment Vehicles: Hedge Funds, Fund of Funds, and Managed Accounts• Lesson 1: Hedge Funds• Lesson 2: Fund of Funds• Lesson 3: Managed Accounts

Course 3: Investment Instruments
Module 1: Quantitative Concepts• Lesson 1: Time Value of Money• Lesson 2: Present Value and Future Value• Lesson 3: Net Present Value• Lesson 4: Time Value of Money Applications• Lesson 5: Descriptive Statistics• Lesson 6: Measures of Dispersion• Lesson 7: Normal Distribution• Lesson 8: Correlation
Module 2: Introduction to Investment Instruments and Equity Securities• Lesson 1: Introduction to Investment Instruments• Lesson 2: Introduction to Equity Securities• Lesson 3: Valuation of Common Shares• Lesson 4: Risks of Investing in Equity Securities• Lesson 5: Corporate Actions
Module 3: Debt Securities• Lesson 1: Introduction to Debt Securities• Lesson 2: Seniority Ranking• Lesson 3: Types of Bonds• Lesson 4: Bonds with Embedded Provisions• Lesson 5: Valuation of Debt Securities• Lesson 6: Risks of Investing in Debt Securities• Lesson 7: Yield Curve• Lesson 8: Comparing Equity and Debt Securities© 2023 CFA Institute. All rights reserved.

Module 4: Derivatives• Lesson 1: Introduction to Derivatives Contracts• Lesson 2: Uses of Derivatives Contracts• Lesson 3: Key Terms of Derivatives Contracts• Lesson 4: Forwards and Futures• Lesson 5: Options• Lesson 6: Swaps
Module 5: Alternative Investments• Lesson 1: Advantages and Limitations of Alternative Investments• Lesson 2: Private Equity Investments• Lesson 3: Real Estate Investments• Lesson 4: Commodity Investments

Course 4: Investment Inputs and Tools
Module 1: Microeconomics• Lesson 1: Introduction to Economics and Microeconomics• Lesson 2: Demand and Supply• Lesson 3: Market Equilibrium• Lesson 4: Elasticities of Demand• Lesson 5: Profit and Costs of Production• Lesson 6: Market Environment
Manual 2: Macroeconomics• Lesson 1: Introduction to Macroeconomics• Lesson 2: Gross Domestic Product and the Business Cycle• Lesson 3: Economic Growth• Lesson 4: The Business Cycle• Lesson 5: Economic Indicators• Lesson 6: Inflation• Lesson 7: Monetary and Fiscal Policies
Module 3: Economics of International Trade• Lesson 1: Imports and Exports• Lesson 2: Comparative Advantages Among Countries• Lesson 3: Balance of Payments• Lesson 4: Foreign Exchange Rate Systems• Lesson 5: Value of Currencies• Lesson 6: The Foreign Exchange Market
Module 4: Financial Statements• Lesson 1: Roles in Financial Reporting• Lesson 2: The Balance Sheet• Lesson 3: The Income Statement• Lesson 4: The Cash Flow Statement• Lesson 5: Links Between Financial Statements• Lesson 6: Financial Statement Analysis© 2023 CFA Institute. All rights reserved.

Investment Foundations® Certificate
Learning Goals and Topics

Course 5: Serving Clients Needs
Module 1: Investors and Their Needs• Lesson 1: Types and Characteristics of Investors• Lesson 2: Factors that Affect Investors’ Needs• Lesson 3: Investment Policy Statements
Module 2: Investment Management• Lesson 2: Introduction to Equity Securities• Lesson 3: Valuation of Common Shares• Lesson 4: Risks of Investing in Equity Securities• Lesson 5: Corporate Actions
Module 3: Risk Management• Lesson 1: Definition and Classification of Risks• Lesson 2: The Risk Management Process• Lesson 3: Risk Management Functions• Lesson 4: Operational Risk
• Lesson 5: Compliance Risk
• Lesson 6: Investment Risk
• Lesson 7: Value at Risk (VaR)
Module 4: Performance Evaluation• Lesson 1: The Performance Evaluation Process• Lesson 2: Measures of Return• Lesson 3: Benchmarks• Lesson 4: Measures of Risk
• Lesson 4: Measures of Relative Performance• Lesson 6: Alpha• Lesson 7: Performance Attribution

Course 6: Serving the Greater Good
Module 1: Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Investing• Lesson 1: Approaches to Responsible Investing• Lesson 2: Factors in ESG Investing• Lesson 3: The Benefits and Challenges of ESG Adherence• Lesson 4: Investor Engagement and Stewardship
Module 2: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) in Practice• Lesson 1: Key Concepts in DEI• Lesson 2: Bias Recognition and Mitigation• Lesson 3: Best Practices and Success Metrics in DEI• Lesson 4: Applying DEI Concepts in the Workplace
Module 3 – Part 1: Professionalism• Lesson 1: Trust and Stakeholder Obligations• Lesson 2: Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct
Module 3 – Part 2: Ethical Decision-Making Framework• Lesson 1: Benefits of Ethical Conduct and Consequences of Unethical Conduct• Lesson 2: Ethical Decision-Making Framework© 2023 CFA Institute. All rights reserved.

Investment Foundations® Certificate
Learning Goals and Topics