The training material is provided with a fully bound book covering the entire IFID content. In addition, the On-Line Campus, hosted on the University of Reading’s “Blackboard” On-Line learning system provides a variety of other resources including the Discussion Board to post questions and debate issues with both the On-Line Campus Tutor and other candidates.

Detailed Programme

The IFID Certificate is a professional training qualification that places strong emphasis on practical skills based on a thorough understanding of valuation principles and the relationships between the cash and the derivatives markets. The current outline of the seminar structure is as follows:

Day 1. Fixed Income Analysis
1.1. Bond markets, pricing and yield
1.2. Yield curve dynamics
1.3. Spot and forward yields
1.4. Interest rate futures
1.5. Interest rate risk

Day 2. Rates, Trading And Hedging
2.1. Securities financing
2.2. Outright and spread trading
2.3. Bond futures
2.4. Swaps
2.5. Options – structures, pricing and risks
2.6. Introduction to exotic options

Day 3. Structured Securities
3.1. Callable/putable bonds
3.2. Convertible bonds
3.3. Inflation-linked bonds
3.4. OTC structures

Day 4. Credit Analysis And Products
4.1. Corporate bond analysis
4.2. Credit derivatives
4.3. Structured credit products

Day 5. Portfolio and Risk Management
5.1. Portfolio Construction
5.2. Risk Management

Note that there are four 90 minute sessions a day, Monday to Thursday, with a one hour review period at the end of the day. On Friday there are two 90 minute sessions with a full afternoon study session with the OnLine Tutor present to answer all questions from the various topics.

Day 6
Exam (candidates may choose to defer to a later time*)

*Note that candidates close to the end of their six month registration period can sit the exam on the final morning. However, for those who have registered just before the seminar they are free to sit the week but defer taking the exam (within the six month time limit) at a Prometric Centre (www.prometric.com) in their City. Thus, this is a valuable course whether taken at the end or the beginning of one’s study.

Click here to download the detailed IFID syllabus.


IFID Online Campus

The Online Campus is to support you in your self-study in advance of the seminar. It provides you with a wealth of information including:

• programme logistics and related administrative material;
• a link to the electronic version of the entire IFID content hosted by WileyPLUS, a state-of-the-art platform for finance education;
• additional background reading;
• a full 75 question practice exam paper;
• a discussion board that allows you to post questions to the online Tutor who will support you over your entire course of study by responding to your questions online.

If you are already a registered IFID student then you can login to the IFID Online Campus here.

 

Details of the Next Seminars:

Barcelona 27 October-2 November 2013 Registrations will open shortly. To register your interest, please e-mail education@icmagroup.org. Venue TBC Barcelona Spain

Hong Kong, China TBC                   Le Méridien Cyberport 100 Cyberport Road Hong Kong China To register your interest for the next publicly scheduled Hong Kong seminar, e-mail education@icmagroup.org. This is an ICMA Executive Education course in association with The Korea Financial Investment Association (KOFIA), a non-profit organization founded under the Financial Investment Services and Capital Market Act whose main functions are ensuring fair business practice among members, the fair trading of securities, and investor protection.

Costs:

Barcelona
Included in the course fee is accommodation in a private room at the hotel from the Sunday with check-out on the Saturday. Also included is all meals, coffee breaks and materials and supplies. There is a welcome reception on the Sunday starting at 18:00, just before dinner.

£4,200.00 for Members and £5,460.00 for non-members
2 to 4 candidates – 5% discount each*
5 to 9 candidates – 10% discount each*
10+ candidates - 15% discount each*

*Please note that discounts are applied by way of a refund to the organisation when registration has closed and the final number of candidates from the firm has been determined.

Payment can be made by secure online credit card or by invoice. Please note that selecting the invoice method will add £50 (administration fee) to the course price.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hong Kong, China
Course fee of KRW 3,000,000 (equivalent to USD 2,640 at the time of publishing) plus accommodation fee of HKD 15,300.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Should you have any queries about the training seminars please contact David Senior on +44 20 7213 0329 or e-mail education@icmagroup.org.

IFID Residential certificate holders
 
The names of the successful candidates from previous examinations are included in our list of certificate holders.

---

Yole Fréjacques-Menuet

Organisation: Banque de France
Job title: Portfolio Manager

Describe what you do on a day to day basis in your job:
As a portfolio manager in a central bank, I am responsible for defining and implementing the investment strategy for the reserves portfolios of which I am in charge, as well as the day-to-day portfolio trading. I am also in charge of monitoring financial market developments in order to provide feedback to colleagues and management on specific topics related to the markets I follow.

Reasons for taking the course:
After a few years in the dealing room, I wanted to complete my knowledge about the fixed income markets. I was specifically interested in having a broad knowledge of several topics, such as options and credit analysis, not directly linked to my day-to-day job, but which could offer me a better understanding of financial markets and financial products.

Benefits of taking this course:
I particularly appreciated that the programme placed strong emphasis on developing practical skills and always looked to underline the relationship between cash and derivatives. The combination of theory classes, followed by practical work based on the concepts that had just been studied, was an excellent way to understand and implement new acquisitions. Moreover, it was very interesting to work in such an international atmosphere and meet different people from various professional backgrounds.

---

Thomas Krabbe Jensen 

Organisation: Danmarks Nationalbank
Job title: Portfolio Manager

Describe what you do on a day to day basis in your job:
I'm part of a team managing the Danish Central Bank’s FX reserve.  My primary focus is on the short money market, but from time to time I take care of other parts of the reserve. In addition, I make ad hoc analysis of the financial markets and write the regular reporting and decision recommendations to the governors.

Reasons for taking the course:
I recently started working as a portfolio manager and the IFID course is part of my training.  We chose the IFID course because it covers the basics in fixed income and at the same time has a very practical approach.  A considerable part of the syllabus consists of examples and exercises and that makes the content very useful in my daily work. In addition, it gives course participants the opportunity to test oneself throughout the course.

Benefits of taking this course:
I got the opportunity to revisit some of the finance theory I learned at university, but in some of the practical areas the IFID course was more thorough. As a result, my basic skills strengthened and I got a better understanding of the relationship between the different markets.

---