Certified Fund Specialist^® | Program Overview

The Certified Fund Specialist^® (CFS^®) designation is now celebrating its 21st year in existence. More than 11,000 members of the financial services community have already completed the program. CFS^® is the oldest designation in the mutual fund industry. You can begin your path to becoming a Certified Fund Specialist^® when you enroll in an IBF program today.

Your competitors offer mutual funds as a simple and effective way to invest. Yet few advisors and brokers really understand how funds interact with other parts of the portfolio or how this investment vehicle should be analyzed. As a certified funds specialist, you will learn criteria such as alpha, beta, correlation coefficient, first-auto correlation, R-squared, and standard deviation that should be incorporated in the selection process.

The programs also benefit individuals in related job functions such as operations, marketing, sales support, distribution, customer service and back office support.

With mutual funds training, a Certified Fund Specialist^® is able to evaluate and compare financial measurements and benchmarks when constructing a portfolio. Modern portfolio theory (MPT) is a key part of the program; its components are broken down and detailed in terms the advisor can easily understand and convey to a client. Armed with MPT and other selection criteria learned as part of the mutual fund education, a suitable and efficient portfolio using closed-end, exchange-traded, and open-end funds can be derived.

Practitioners and academics continually update the CFS^® materials. Students obtain the best of both worlds—the practical as well as the theoretical. Closed-end funds, ETFs, REITs and UITs are also covered, thereby providing the student with a more rounded education. With this additional investment knowledge, advisors and brokers offer ideas to clients that they would not receive elsewhere. Discover for yourself what benefits a certified fund specialist designation can bring to you and your clients. Our faculty and staff bring many years of professional experience to provide the best training for financial professionals. Contact us for more information about the CFS^® designation.