Accredited Portfolio Management Advisor℠ - APMA®

The Accredited Portfolio Management Advisor℠ (APMA®) program is an advanced graduate-level program for financial professionals. The program covers the finer points of portfolio creation, augmentation, and maintenance. You’ll learn about client assessment and suitability, risk/return, investment objectives, bond and equity portfolios, modern portfolio theory, investor psychology, and other topics relevant to building appropriate client portfolios. The program will also cover investment policy statements, portfolio construction, and asset allocation. Discover how you can become an expert in portfolio management with the APMA® designation.

Best Suited for

Mid-career financial professionals looking to deepen their portfolio management expertise through an advanced, graduate-level program.

Course Topics

• Investment Risk and Return Analysis
• Modern Portfolio Theory and Performance Evaluation of Equities
• Debt and Fixed-Income Features
• Debt and Fixed Income Valuation and Analysis
• Mutual Funds and Other Pooled Investments
• Investing in Real Assets
• Derivatives and Structured Products
• Taxation of Investments and the Regulatory Environment
• Ethical Considerations, Investment Strategies and Retirement Needs Analysis
• Behavioral Finance, Client Suitability and Constructing Portfolios

What You Earn

Accredited Portfolio Management Advisor™ (APMA®) designation

Stackable Credit

• Program graduates earn credit for: Course FP513 Investment Planning in the College's CFP® certification education program OR
• One elective course in the College’s Master of Science Degree Program in Personal Financial Planning

Continuing Education Credit

Program graduates earn:

• CFP® Certification CE: 28 hours
• College For Financial Planning Designation CE: 16 hours

Time to Complete

120 days

The APMA® Designation Package Includes:

• OnDemand Professional Designation Classes: You receive full access to OnDemand classes, allowing you the flexibility to complete your professional designation program at your own pace and on your schedule. Your online learning platform will guide you through all your course-related activities, from reading assignments and recorded video lectures to module quizzes and your final exam. Because this option is self-paced, you can begin the program at your convenience.
• eBook: Electronic textbooks are your primary resource for course content. You will receive an electronic VitalSource eBook as part of the package price. eBooks in the ePub format that are compatible with Apple iPad and MOBI/Kindle will also be available on your student dashboard. Print textbooks are available as an add-on to your package for $159 plus tax and shipping.
• Module Quizzes: Module Quizzes, located at the end of each unit in your program, are designed to gauge your comprehension of the material. You must complete the 30-question quiz for each module before moving to the next module. For questions answered incorrectly, correct answers with detailed rationales are provided to help improve your comprehension.
• Practice Exam: The Practice Exam is designed to closely replicate the Final Exam experience in terms of the degree of difficulty, timing, format, and topical coverage. This exam can be taken twice and provides unique practice questions that you haven’t seen at this point in your studies. The Practice Exam is a sound indicator of how you will perform on your Final Exam, and it allows you to see areas of strength and weakness on your Performance Tracker.
• Final Exam: To pass the designation program, you must achieve a score of 70% or higher on the Final Exam. You have an allotted time of 3 hours to take the exam and a maximum of two attempts to pass. The grade earned on the Final Exam reflects your overall grade for the designation program.
• Community Forum: You’ll have access to a private community forum, providing an online space to collaborate and engage with your instructor and fellow students. After you complete your program, you’ll gain access to our alumni and financial planners professional communities.

Top 5 Benefits of Earning the APMA® Designation

1. Industry Recognition: The APMA® designation is recognized as the industry-benchmark for portfolio management credentials and is endorsed by the top financial firms.

2. Tangible Career Benefits: Financial planning professionals working in a financial planning role both the year before and year after receiving their most recent specialized professional designation such as the APMA® designation reported an average 21% earnings increase in the year after earning that professional designation.

3. Skills That Benefit You and Your Clients: Develop a comprehensive knowledge in topics like modern portfolio theory and behavioral finance. This allows you to help both your clients and your own career.

4. Stackable Credits: APMA® designees receive course credit toward our CFP® certification education program or MS in Personal Financial Planning program. This allows you to save both time and money to earn your next credential or degree.

5. Fulfill Continuing Education Requirements: APMA® designees earn CE hours toward renewing their CFP® certification and/or a professional designation they currently hold with the College.