Certificate In Financial Modeling

The Certificate in Financial Modeling (CIFM) certification is a comprehensive global certification exam designed to assess a candidate’s expert level understanding of Financial Modeling with Excel on investment management including equity, fixed income, alternative investments, investment banking, financial advisory, financial engineering and corporate finance decision making. This program tests a candidate on his capability to develop a disciplined and systematic approach to take financial and investment decisions with the help of excel tools.

Who should do Financial Modeling?

This Financial Modeling Certification is suitable for people in Investment banking, Investment management, Corporate Finance, Equity research, Credit Research, Business planning & strategy, Private equity funds, Hedge Funds, Portfolio Management or commercial banking. It is also ideal for all finance specialist and generalists or graduates who want a career in any of the profiles related to:

• Investment Banking Analyst
• Equity Analyst
• Fixed Income Analyst
• Investment Advisor
• Portfolio Manager
• Corporate Strategy and Finance

The evolution of financial markets the world over along with other investment classes, have created a need for finance professionals with a new level of sophistication and a deep understanding of analysis using tools such as excel & technology. The FM certification is a credential designed specifically for financial professionals who want to attain an advanced level of competency in Financial Modeling

Careers after Certificate in Financial Modeling

After successful completion of the program one would be able to add desired value in a career in the following fields
• Investment Banking
• Private Equity
• Hedge Funds
• Equity Research (Buy-Side and Sell-Side)
• Asset Management
• Corporate Finance and Strategy
• Private Wealth Management

In addition, the course will benefit Fresher’s, Entrepreneurs, Advisors, and Accountants who are involved with financial markets…

Reference Book – Certificate in Financial Modeling

  • The Suggested/Recommended reference books are available on leading bookstores and online portals. Students can buy the recommended reference book directly from the Market for the said course. The reference book fees are not included in your Exam Fees.
  • Financial Modeling (MIT Press) – by Simon Benninga
  • Financial Analysis and Modeling Using Excel and VBA by Chandan Sengupta
  • Financial Modeling in Practice: A Concise Guide for Intermediate and Advanced Level
    by Michael Rees
  • Financial Modeling and Valuation: A Practical Guide to Investment Banking and Private
    Equity by Paul Pignataro
  • Financial Modeling for Business Owners and Entrepreneurs: Developing Excel Models
    to Raise Capital, Increase Cash Flow, Improve Operations, Plan Projects, and Make
    Decisions by Tom Y. Sawyer
  • Financial Modeling: A Backward Stochastic Differential Equations Perspective
    (Springer Finance) by Stephane Crepey
  • Building Financial Models (McGraw-Hill Finance & Investing) by John Tjia
  • The Oxford Guide to Financial Modeling: Applications for Capital Markets, Corporate
    Finance, Risk Management and Financial Institutions by Thomas S. Y. Ho & Sang Bin
    Lee
  • The Mathematics of Financial Modeling and Investment Management by Sergio M.
    Focardi & Frank J. Fabozzi
  •  The Handbook of Financial Modeling: A Practical Approach to Creating and
    Implementing Valuation Projection Models by Jack Avon
    Course Outline
  • Finance skills required
    • Basics of Time Value of Money
    • Preparing loan amortization schedule and related calculations
    • Capital budgeting and its techniques.(NPV, IRR, Payback Period)
    • Fundamental analysis of securities (DDM & FCF).
    • Mergers and Acquisitions, post-merger calculations.
    • Financial statement analysis using ratios(Profitability, Activity, Solvency,
      Liquidity)
    • Dividend and its payout policies (Constant Dividend, Constant Pay-out,
      Residual Approach, Share Repurchase).
    • Relative valuation (Justified and trailing ratios, EV/EBITDA approach).
    • Risk and return calculations using standard deviation.
    • Concept of capital structure and cost of capital.
  • Excel skills required:
    • Navigation, use of Spreadsheet, Basic mathematical Calculations
    • Basic excel functions: SUM, AVG, MAX, MIN, Count, etc.
    • Mathematical functions: Sumif, AverageIf, Round, etc.
    • Logical functions: If, And, OR.
    • Finance functions: NPV, IRR, PMT, Cumipmt, Nper.

Training Calendar: 

You can find the upcoming training schedule for CIFM program here

Exam Details

Equalifi is offering the CIFM examination on an external, remote-proctored platform. Candidates can schedule an exam by paying the exam fee. Once the exam fee payment is done and exam registration is confirmed, the exam platform sends out the exam link by email to the candidates. Candidates can appear for the exam anytime any day within the next 1 year through this exam link from any place. Candidates need a good internet connection and a functional camera on their PC/ Laptop to appear for this exam.

CIFM EXAM STRUCTURE

Sr. No. Name of Module Type of Questions Test Duration No. of Questions Maximum Marks Pass Marks (%) Negative Marking
1 Certificate in Financial Modeling (CIFM) MCQ 2 Hrs 100 100 50 20%

Registration Process:

Candidates can register for Equalifi Academy’s Certification programs through any of the following modes:

Member Mode

Under this mode, candidate first needs to sign up as an Equalifi Individual Member. As a member, a candidate gets complimentary access to study resources, tutorials (live and recordings) and various other member benefits round the year.

Equalifi Membership is for a year. Candidate can study for any of Equalifi’s education programs during membership tenure. To appear for any exam, a candidate needs to register for the particular exam and appear within a year from the date of exam registration.

Exam Mode

Under this mode, a candidate can directly register for the certification exam of his choice. Once registered for the exam,  candidates will receive the exam link by email within 7 working days. Candidates can appear for the exam anytime from anywhere on a remote proctored platform within 1 year from the date of exam registration.

Candidates registering under the exam mode do not get access to any study material or training.

Equalifi regularly conducts exam preparation training for various certification exams. Candidates who wish to attend live training, can either pay and register for each training or sign up as an Equalifi Member to get complimentary access to all study resources for a year.

Upcoming training programs are listed here- Skill-Building Programs

Membership details are given here- Equalifi Individual Memberships

Candidate Audit:

Equalifi will randomly audit a percentage of applications on a regular basis. Candidates will be responsible for providing the requested supporting documentation to verify their education and professional background as mentioned in the registration form. Equalifi’s practice is not to contact employers or educational institutions to obtain verification documentation on the candidate’s behalf. Failure to comply with the audit, falsification or misrepresentation of requested information and/or any unprofessional conduct will result in denial/cancellation of the exam registration and/or revocation of the program certificate. Candidates subject to audit will be notified by e-mail and will have 10 business days to respond. Once selected for audit, candidates will be required to satisfy the audit requirements before being able to receive the final certificate. Failure to comply with the audit will result in forfeiting all fees. Additionally, a candidate who does not comply with the audit will be subject to audit if reapplying for a future testing window.

Fee Details:

Certificate in Financial Modeling (CIFM)

For Equalifi Members

For Non-Members

Fee

INR 1,770

INR 3,540

*Fee mentioned is inclusive of GST. Exam fee is applicable for one attempt.

Exam Preparatory Material

Access the CIFM tutorial recordings and study material here

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