Claritas Investment Certificate: What It Is, How It Works

The CFA Institute offers a third program apart from the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation, the gold standard for professionals involved in investment decision-making, and the Certificate in Investment Performance Measurement (CIPM). The Claritas Investment Certificate was launched on May 20, 2013 at the 66th CFA Institute Annual Conference in Singapore.

The program was developed by the CFA Institute over two years as part of a global call to action for industry participants to play a role in addressing the overall lack of trust in financial services following the worldwide financial crisis of 2008. It was renamed the CFA Institute Investment Foundations in 2016.

Key Takeaways

• The Claritas Investment Certificate is a program that focuses on investment industry basics and the roles and responsibilities of financial services professionals.
• It’s an online self-study course with seven course modules covering various topics such as industry controls and ethics and regulations.
• The Claritas Investment Certificate and the CFA designation address the same industry but the CFA curriculum is much more in-depth and geared toward individuals who are directly involved in investment decision-making.
• Participants in the program gain access to study materials that consist of an eBook, a study planner, chapter review and practice questions, and a mock exam fashioned after the administered exam.

Understanding the Claritas Investment Certificate Program

The Claritas Investment Certificate is a foundation-level program designed to provide a clear understanding of investment industry basics and the roles and responsibilities of financial services professionals.

There are no restrictions on entry into the Claritas program so it may be a cost-effective alternative for someone who’s looking to switch fields and get into the financial services industry. It’s well-suited for professionals working with investment decision-makers in support or back-office/front-office functions such as operations, administration, IT, human resources, marketing, sales, compliance, and customer service.

It also appears to be appropriate for students who want to get into entry-level financial services positions.

Individual registration costs $350.

Claritas Investment Certificate Requirements

The program is an online self-study course consisting of 21 chapters that are organized into seven modules. The approximate exam weightings are shown in parentheses:

• Module 1: Industry Overview (5%)
• Module 2: Ethics and Regulation (10%)
• Module 3: Tools and Inputs (20%)
• Module 4: Investment Instruments (20%)
• Module 5: Industry Structure (20%)
• Module 6: Industry Controls (20%)
• Module 7: Serving Client’s Needs (5%)

Participants can expect to devote about 80 to 100 hours of study over a three- to six-month period.

Study materials consist of an eBook, a study planner, chapter review and practice questions, and a mock exam that has the same length and topic weightings as the actual Claritas exam.

The eBook contains the complete Claritas Course of Study and it forms the foundation of all exam questions. It can be accessed online and can be downloaded to as many as four devices: two computers and two mobile devices.

Important

Candidates also gain access to a personalized planner that can help them assess the time commitment required per chapter, based on the number of days remaining until the scheduled exam date. 

Examination

A candidate must schedule an exam appointment and take the exam within 180 days after registering for the Claritas examination. It’s computer-based and consists of 120 multiple choice questions to be completed in 120 minutes.

The exam is administered at many Pearson VUE test centers around the world. Exam candidates are asked to allow up to 2½ hours at the test center which includes time to check in, go through the exam tutorial, review and agree to the Claritas Candidate Pledge, and complete the exam.

Claritas Investment Certificate vs. CFA

The Claritas Investment Certificate differs substantially from the CFA in several ways.

Program scope

The CFA program is widely considered to be the investment profession’s most rigorous credentialing program and the “gold standard” for investment management. The Claritas certificate is a foundation-level program that aims to impart an understanding of investment industry fundamentals. The CFA curriculum is much more in-depth but the Claritas program can be a good way to “test the waters” for those who are considering enrollment in the CFA program.

Entry requirements

The Claritas certificate is aimed at support staff in the financial services sector but there are no entry restrictions and anyone can register for it. The entry requirements for the CFA program are quite stringent: the candidate should either have a Bachelor’s degree or be in the final year of a Bachelor’s degree program, four years of professional work experience, or a combined four years of college and professional work experience.

Candidates must also sign a Professional Conduct Statement disclosing if they’ve been the subject of a written complaint or have been involved in any litigation or investigation in the previous two years.

Certificate/charter requirements

Candidates who successfully pass the Claritas exam receive the Claritas Investment Certificate, referred to as the CFA Institute Investment Foundations Certificate as of 2025. The candidate must pass all three levels of the CFA program, each of which culminates in a six-hour exam, to become a CFA charterholder. The candidate must also possess four years of qualified investment work experience of which at least 50% must be directly involved in making investment decisions.

Commitment levels

The Claritas program is cheaper and requires less time commitment than the CFA. CFA candidates pay a one-time enrollment fee of $350 as well as an exam registration fee that can range between $940 and $1,250 depending on whether the registration is done before the first deadline in September or the final one in March.

Each level of the CFA program takes about six months of preparation. Most candidates take between two and five years to complete the program. Successful candidates take an average of four years.

What Is Pearson VUE?

Pearson VUE has established partnerships with industries around the world to provide certification and licensing exams for potential professionals including Claritas candidates. It guides and assists candidates by offering practice tests and courseware. It maintains 5,500 test centers in more than 180 countries and provides about 21 million exams a year in 47 languages.

What Are the Target Markets for the Claritas Certification and the CFA Program?

The Claritas certification is aimed at everyone in the investment industry who helps enable investment decision-making. The CFA program is targeted at those who are directly involved in investment decision-making.

What Are Some Entry-Level Financial Services Positions?

Indeed names the roles of risk analyst, compensation analyst, and financial advisor as the top three entry-level positions based on salary. Entry-level doesn’t necessarily mean that certification and education aren’t required, however. It generally means that you don’t yet have any hands-on experience in the field.

The Bottom Line

The CFA Institute began offering its Claritas Investment Certificate in 2013 in response to the lack of trust in financial services that boomed after the 2008 financial crisis. The program was renamed the CFA Institute Investment Foundations eight years later. The program and the certification provide several advantages to individuals who want to get their feet wet in the financial industry but aren’t yet sure if they want to jump into the CFA program with both feet.