For Individuals
For Teams
  • CMSA program: 41 total courses, 17 required for exam eligibility
  • Self-paced & 100% online
  • Get full CMSA program, community, & more with a CFI membership
  • Get this program and CFI's full training catalog for your organization
  • Manage learning, create custom paths & measure progress
  • For teams of 2 or more learners

CMSA® Program Overview

CFI’s Capital Markets & Securities Analyst (CMSA®) Certification Program will teach you the essential skills for successful careers in both the buy-side and sell-side of the capital markets. A deep understanding of financial instruments, securities, markets, and analytical methodologies is crucial for making informed investment decisions, managing risk, and optimizing returns in a complex global investment landscape.

THE CMSA® certification is self-paced and includes interactive lessons cover various asset classes, including fixed income, foreign exchange, commodities, equities, and derivatives, and the extensive curriculum emphasizes real-world applications, preparing learners for roles in Sales and Trading, Asset Management, Treasury, Research, Wealth Management, Risk Management, and Origination.

Elevate your career with the CMSA® Certification, designed to navigate and thrive in the evolving landscape of global capital markets.

Program Overview

42 courses

Consisting of 2220+ lessons

250+ interactive exercises

Learn by doing with guided simulations

Blockchain certificate

To verify your skills

500,000+ 5-star ratings

Best-in-class training, as rated by you

How the CMSA® Program Works*

Step 1.

Prep Courses

Optional

To prepare for the CMSA® certification, take our 6 optional prep courses to learn or review the fundamentals.

Introduction to Capital Markets
4.8 (360 Ratings)
1h 4min
1h 4min
Math for Finance Professionals
4.9 (1,575 Ratings)
1h 46min
1h 46min
Economics for Capital Markets
4.9 (334 Ratings)
1h 14min
1h 14min
Foreign Exchange Fundamentals
4.8 (168 Ratings)
1h 6min
1h 6min
Excel Fundamentals - Formulas for Finance
4.9 (4,963 Ratings)
2h 14min
2h 14min
Excel Fundamentals - Quick Start Guide
4.9 (275 Ratings)
2h 33min
2h 33min
See All Prep Courses
Step 2.

Core Courses

Complete 10 core courses to build a strong foundation in capital markets and securities.

Fixed Income Fundamentals
4.8 (130 Ratings)
1h 36min
1h 36min
Equity Markets Fundamentals
4.9 (64 Ratings)
2h 9min
2h 9min
Derivatives Fundamentals
4.9 (173 Ratings)
1h 13min
1h 13min
Lifecycle of a Trade
4.8 (10 Ratings)
1h 9min
1h 9min
Spot Foreign Exchange
4.8 (48 Ratings)
1h 16min
1h 16min
Commodities Fundamentals
4.8 (54 Ratings)
1h 24min
1h 24min
Hedge Fund Fundamentals
4.8 (39 Ratings)
1h 31min
1h 31min
Portfolio Management Fundamentals
4.8 (54 Ratings)
43min
43min
Professional Ethics
4.9 (5,048 Ratings)
50min
50min
Interest Rate Swap Fundamentals
4.3 (3 Ratings)
1h 34min
1h 34min
Hide All Core Courses
Step 3.

Elective Courses

Choose a minimum of 7 electives (out of 23 available) to master more advanced topics and specialized lending concepts.

Trading Using Technical Analysis
4.9 (39 Ratings)
1h 48min
1h 48min
Behavioral Finance
5 (71 Ratings)
1h 59min
1h 59min
Futures Pricing and Commodity Futures
4.8 (19 Ratings)
1h 46min
1h 46min
Equity, FX, and Rate Futures
4.8 (14 Ratings)
1h 8min
1h 8min
Advanced Futures & Forwards
4.8 (4 Ratings)
1h 49min
1h 49min
Applied Fixed Income
4.9 (14 Ratings)
3h 30min
3h 30min
Advanced Fixed Income
4.8 (11 Ratings)
1h 19min
1h 19min
High-Yield Bonds, Subordinated Debt, and Loans
4.9 (11 Ratings)
2h 11min
2h 11min
Convertible Bonds
4.8 (16 Ratings)
1h 28min
1h 28min
Short Duration Products
5 (9 Ratings)
2h 30min
2h 30min
Credit Fixed Income
4.8 (8 Ratings)
1h 43min
1h 43min
Repo (Repurchase Agreements)
4.7 (18 Ratings)
1h 21min
1h 21min
Securitized Products
4.9 (9 Ratings)
1h 45min
1h 45min
Prime Services and Securities Lending
5 (21 Ratings)
49min
49min
Origination Fundamentals - Debt Capital Markets Perspective
4.9 (14 Ratings)
2h 11min
2h 11min
Foreign Exchange - Deliverable Forwards
4.8 (6 Ratings)
1h 24min
1h 24min
Foreign Exchange - Non-Deliverable Forwards
5 (2 Ratings)
54min
54min
Understanding Options
4.9 (32 Ratings)
1h 1min
1h 1min
Modeling Risk with Monte Carlo Simulation
5 (76 Ratings)
2h 5min
2h 5min
Syndicated Lending
5 (26 Ratings)
1h 16min
1h 16min
Commercial Mortgages
4.9 (23 Ratings)
2h 4min
2h 4min
Options Hedging and Trading Strategies
4.8 (5 Ratings)
40min
40min
Pricing Options and Option Sensitivities
5 (6 Ratings)
1h 34min
1h 34min
See All Elective Courses
Step 4.

Case Study Challenges

Optional

These case study challenges allow you to apply your knowledge and skills by solving real-world problems.

Applied Technical Analysis for Equity Markets
5 (20 Ratings)
31min
31min
Deconstructing Options
5 (1 Ratings)
37min
37min
See All Case Study Challenges
Step 5.

Final Exam

After completing the required courses, take the CMSA® certification final exam (with a minimum passing grade of 70%) to earn your program certification.

Step 6.

Get CMSA® Certified

Congratulations! Upon completion of the program, you will receive a block-chain digital certificate with your new credentials.

CMSA® Skill Categories & Learning Objectives

1
28%
Derivatives
2
26%
Fixed Income
3
22%
Analytical Methodologies
4
8%
Foreign Exchange
5
8%
Commodities
6
8%
Equity
1
2
3
4
5
6
  1. 1.
    28%
    Derivatives
  2. 2.
    26%
    Fixed Income
  3. 3.
    22%
    Analytical Methodologies
  4. 4.
    8%
    Foreign Exchange
  5. 5.
    8%
    Commodities
  6. 6.
    8%
    Equity

Derivatives

  • Understand how derivatives work
  • Value and price derivatives
  • Manage the risk of financial derivatives

Fixed Income

  • Explain the basic concepts of fixed income
  • Compare different sub-classes of fixed income, including bonds, swaps, securitized products and credit
  • Explain the investors, originators and intermediaries involved in the fixed income markets
  • Identify risks and trade fixed income securities

Analytical Methodologies

  • Analyze securities, markets and players using proven frameworks
  • Apply the analytical methodologies when making investment decisions
  • Use these analytical methodologies in trading simulations

Foreign Exchange

  • Discuss the foundations of FX spot, forwards, swaps and options
  • Explain the various foreign exchange markets
  • Employ various market strategies to enhance market returns and reduce market risks

Commodities

  • Define commodities and their key features
  • Identify the major commodity categories
  • Discuss the drivers of the commodities in different categories
  • Undertake commodity trading strategies using futures and options

Equity

  • Explain how cash equities work
  • Apply the fundamentals to equity derivative products and structures
  • Trade and risk manage institutional equities

Taught by Industry Experts

Andrew Loo

Andrew Loo

Andrew is VP, Capital Markets at CFI. Prior to joining CFI in 2019, Andrew retired in 2017 as Managing Director at Nomura Securities in Hong Kong, where he managed the fixed income sales efforts to Central Banks and Sovereign Wealth Funds in the region.
Scott Powell

Scott Powell

Scott is the Co-Founder of CFI. Over the past 30 years, he has focused on designing and delivering learning solutions for clients in the financial services sector, particularly in the areas of commercial banking, investment banking, capital markets, and asset management.
Tim Vipond, FMVA

Tim Vipond, FMVA

Tim is the Co-Founder and CEO of CFI Education with an extensive background in entrepreneurship, financial analysis, and investment banking.
Guy O'Loughnane

Guy O'Loughnane

Guy is an experienced FX market practitioner with a long career trading in financial centres globally, including London, Zurich, Tokyo, Singapore and Hong Kong. He started his career with UBS in 1994, trading FX forwards before moving to Credit-Agricole-Indosuez and specializing in Japanese Yen forwards.
Meeyeon Park

Meeyeon Park

Meeyeon is based in Vancouver, BC. Having spent most of her career in Toronto, Meeyeon has previous experience in both the buy/sell-side of Finance with roles at Ontario Teachers Pension Plan in Fixed Income Portfolio Management and BMO Capital Markets in Investment Banking. Meeyeon holds a Bachelor of Business Administration, with High Distinction, from the University of Toronto.
Paul North

Paul North

Skilled in derivatives and capital markets, including post trade clearing and settlement, Paul North has over 32 years of experience working and teaching in the financial markets and derivatives industry.

Careers in Capital Markets & Securities

Over 85% of executives, supervisors, and HR professionals agree that certified individuals bring value, gain credibility, and are seen as top performers.
* Source

  • Asset Management

    Asset Management

    Professional investment and portfolio management for institutional clients, such as pension funds, life insurance companies and mutual funds.
  • Wealth Management

    Wealth Management

    Advising high net worth individuals and families on investments and planning.
  • Risk Management

    Risk Management

    Identify, analyze, develop and communicate a framework of risk processes for an organization.
  • Origination

    Origination

    Sell-side roles advising organizations on their debt and equity options.
  • Research

    Research

    Both sell-side and buy-side roles providing bottom-up research coverage on companies as well as top-down macro strategy and economic research.
  • Treasury

    Treasury

    Forecasting and managing the working capital for corporations, as well as creating strategies to mitigate the company's financial risk.
  • Sales and Trading

    Sales and Trading

    Institutional sales, market-making and risk-taking of Fixed Income, Equities, FX, Commodities and Financial Derivatives products.

The CMSA® program has upskilled teams at:

jp morgan logo
telus logo
ubs logo
nab logo
black rock logo

What Our Students Say

Over 75% of CFI learners report improved productivity or competency within weeks.

After 6 months of studying, 19 courses, and over 900 lessons, I have finally completed Corporate Finance Institute® (CFI)’s Certification Program. I would definitely recommend it to anyone that is looking to get a deeper insight into Valuation, Modeling.

Ihor Kukhar

Today marks a very important milestone in my educational journey. I have been looking for a way to get into Finance but hadn’t been able to identify a credential that would do the job without interrupting my work schedule.

Stephen Moerane

Great Program that gives deep insight/refreshment. One of the Best Investments you can make for your career.

Mohamed Alharbi

I would like to express my appreciation for CFI’s well-structured and practical online course content! Using common management and business concepts, it delivers so much in terms of practical learning outcomes that can be applied straight away. I will be completing the remaining courses and will continue to be a part of CFI for my career enhancement!

Samuel John, Financial Controller

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Frequently Asked Questions

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If you haven’t found your answer from our FAQ, please send us a message.