Claritas® Investment Certificate
Exam Readiness Programme
“Claritas® Workshops”
1. Vision & Context
The ASISA Academy creates and delivers high quality solutions to meet the skills development needs of
South African Savings, Life Assurance and Investment Management organisations. Our learning solutions
are informed by and responsive to industry realities, delivered in an academically sound and practitionerled manner. The Academy has been accredited as a learning provider by the BANKSETA since 2008.
The Academy resulted from the need for a fresh approach to developing investment management skills and
achieving broader, more rapid transformation of the industry. The intention is to take candidates’ learning
beyond that of their tertiary studies using an approach that responds to industry realities and is delivered
by industry experts in an academically sound manner.
The Academy operates at three levels:
1. With those employed in the industry and their stakeholders to ensure that the skills base within
our industry allows us to compete with the best in the world.
2. With young people entering or considering a career in the industry to bridge the gap between the
theory learned at university and the realities of the work environment so that students can become
work-ready while still studying.
3. With existing and potential consumers as well as retirement fund trustees to raise the levels of
their financial literacy.
Almost 3000 people in the Southern African financial services sector have learned with the ASISA
Academy since 2008 with more than 300 industry presenters involved. Programmes that have been
successfully implemented include Investment Management Professional Induction (IMPI) programme, Equity
Analysts’ Bootcamps, Investment Management Administration & Client Servicing (IMACS) course,
Collective Investment Schemes (CIS) course, Ethics Workshops for Investment Managers & Retirement
Fund Trustees, CFA Level One Exam Readiness Workshops, Long term Insurance Underwriter course,
Claims Assessor course, FAIS Regulatory Exam Readiness Workshops and our first university Partner in
Learning, TSiBA Education. We have also introduced Blitzcamps such as Derivatives, Compliance
Monitoring & Reporting, Financial Services Industry Overview and Life Insurance Business Overview.
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2. The ASISA Academy in partnership with UCT
Since 2010 the Academy has been working in partnership with TSiBA Education to pioneer an investment
administration stream for students at undergraduate level. Through this successful partnership we have
seen the immense benefit of an independent industry body working with a university to ensure that
curricula are relevant and that a pipeline of work-ready graduates is being developed for industry
employers. The ASISA Academy has been exploring similar partnerships with a number of other
universities and has now signed a strategic partnership with UCT with a view to scaling up these
collaborative efforts. In 2013 UCT officially endorsed the following four of the Academy’s existing
Bootcamps and Programmes as UCT Short Courses which, from 2014, the Academy will be running as
official non-credit bearing UCT short courses:
1. Life Insurance Underwriters’ Short Course
2. Life Insurance Claims Assessor Short Course
3. Investment Management Administration & Client Servicing (IMACS) Short Course
4. Collective Investment Schemes (CIS) Short Course
Candidates on each of these courses will need to pass the assessments to be awarded the UCT graduate
certificate. The number and complexity of the assessments will vary depending on the course.
3. Approach to Learning
We work hard at the Academy to ensure every learning experience is as interactive as possible. To achieve
this we draw on the expertise of experienced industry professionals and we limit the size of our groups to
fourteen people.
The following diagram captures the Academy approach to learning. We aim to achieve the bulk of our
learning at the bottom two levels of the triangle.
Learning experiences
Verbal receiving
Visual receiving

Receiving &
participating
We tend to remember…
Reading
10 % of what we read
Hearing &
words
20 % of what we hear
Looking at pictures
30 % of what we see
Watching a movie
Looking at an exhibition
Watching a demonstration
Seeing it done on location
50 % of what
we hear & see
Active
Participate in a discussion
Give a talk
DOING
70 % of what
we say
Do a dramatic presentation
Simulating the real experience
Doing the real thing
Increasing retention 
Passive
For a given level of involvement…
90% of what
we both say & do
Source: National Training Laboratories, Maine
The Claritas® Workshop class sizes are limited to fourteen per course which allows for a very supportive
learning environment in which no committed candidate gets left behind. An online learning environment is
used where all the Claritas® Investment Certificate course resources can be accessed from anywhere at
any time. Candidates will be required to bring a laptop in order to make full use of the online learning
environment during the sessions.
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4. Background to the Claritas® Workshops
The Claritas® Investment Certificate Exam Readiness Programme was borne out of the ASISA Academy’s
very successful CFA Level One Exam Readiness Workshops which assist candidates in preparing for the
CFA Level One Exams.
“The Claritas® Investment Certificate is a new global self-study education program and exam designed to
give anyone working in financial services a clear understanding of the investment industry and their
professional responsibilities within it. Focused on the essentials of finance, ethics, and investment roles, the
program requires approximately 100 hours of study and generally can be completed within six months.
There is no education or experience requirement; however candidates should feel comfortable with the
English language. The multiple choice, computer-based exam can be taken at your convenience at available
test centers around the world. Successful candidates will be awarded the “Claritas® Investment Certificate
by CFA Institute.” 1
During the first half of 2013, the CFA Institute ran a global pilot programme for the Claritas® Investment
Certificate. The ASISA Academy promoted the pilot programme amongst the ASISA member
organisations, resulting in 46 candidates enrolling for the programme. The exam was written during
March/April 2013 and the results and candidate feedback were published in July 2013. The CFA Institute
has subsequently decided to proceed with the programme.
The ASISA Academy will run a program similar to the “CFA® Level I Exam Readiness Workshops” for the
Claritas® Investment Certificate.
The programme was developed in order to support candidates in preparing for their exams to:

Promote the Claritas® Investment Certificate amongst the ASISA membership;

Administer the enrolment and exam registration processes on behalf of the ASISA membership and
candidates;

Assist candidates with their preparation for the Claritas® Investment Certificate exam, primarily
focussed on exam preparation and practice rather than knowledge transfer;

Achieve a pass rate above the global average for candidates that participate in the programme;

Facilitate an environment within which candidates can be part of study groups rather than rely on
self-study alone;

Motivate and assist candidates to study continuously throughout the program, and not to cram all
their studies into the last few weeks before the exam
It is the Academy’s expectation that candidates will have already studied the material supplied by the CFA
Institute to be covered prior to attending the workshops.
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CFA Institute website - http://www.cfainstitute.org/programs/claritas/Pages/index.aspx
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5. Claritas® Workshops Curriculum
The following table of modules and exam weightings was obtained from the CFA Institute website2. The
Claritas® Workshops are designed in line with the CFA Institute’s course structure.
The Claritas® Investment Certificate consists of the following modules:
Module number
Module 1
 Chapter 1
Module 2
 Chapter 2
 Chapter 3
Module 3
 Chapter 4
 Chapter 5
 Chapter 6
 Chapter 7
 Chapter 8
Module 4
 Chapter 9
 Chapter 10
 Chapter 11
 Chapter 12
Module 5
 Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15
Module 6
 Chapter 16
 Chapter 17
 Chapter 18
Module 7
 Chapter 19


Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Final Overview
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Module Title
Industry Overview
 The Investment Industry: A
Top-Down View
Ethics and regulation
 Ethics and investment
professionalism
 Regulation and Supervision
Tools and inputs
 Financial statements
 Quantitative Concepts
 Microeconomics
 Macroeconomics
 International Trade and
Foreign Exchange
Investment instruments
 Equity Securities
 Debt Securities
 Derivatives
 Alternative Investments
Industry structure
 Structure of the Investment
Industry
 Investment Vehicles and
Structures
 Investment Market
Characteristics
Industry controls
 Investment Industry
Documentation
 Risk Management
 Performance Evaluation
Serving clients needs
 Investor Needs and
Investment Policy
 Asset Allocation
 Active and Passive Investment
Management
Mock Exam
Final Q&A
Exam
Weighting
5%
ASISA
Workshop
Workshop 1
10 %
Workshop 1
20 %
Workshop 2
20 %
Workshop 3
20 %
Workshop 4
20 %
Workshop 5
5%
Workshop 6
Workshop 6
CFA Institute website - http://www.cfainstitute.org/programs/claritas/courseofstudy/Pages/index.aspx
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6. Frequency and timing
The Claritas® Investment Certificate Exam Readiness Programme is run twice per year.
Programme Timing
Exam date
February – May 2014
Monday 26th May 2014
August – November 2014
Monday 24th November 2014
The CFA Institute recommends that candidates put in at least 100 hours of study time in preparing for the
exam. The Claritas® Workshops will use up some of this time, but candidates will be required to put in
the extra hours as self-study.
7. Contact information
For more information please contact the Academy on:
Email: info@asisaacademy.org.za
Web: www.asisaacademy.org.za
Landline: +27 21 673 1627
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