CME-4A (ICWIM) Study Plan: What to Study With the Time You Have Left

Last verified: 20 October 2026. This is an independent guide and is not affiliated with the Financial Academy (FA), the Capital Market Authority (CMA), CISI or any other government body. Exam details can change, so check the FA CME-4A page and the CISI ICWIM page before you rely on any detail.

This guide answers one question: with the days you have left before CME 4A, the CISI International Certificate in Wealth & Investment Management (ICWIM) exam in Saudi Arabia, what should you study first? The eight units, their weightings and a suggested split of about 100 study hours are in the syllabus guide; booking, fees and rescheduling are in the registration guide.

The numbers behind the plan

FA's policy for CISI exams also states that questions are built on the exam specification, not on books or training course content. Use the learning objectives in the syllabus as your checklist and the workbook as the explanation.

Where the marks are

Four units carry 71 of the 100 questions: Economics and Investment Analysis (21), Investment Advice (21), Investment Management (15) and Asset Classes and Financial Markets (14). Next come Lifetime Financial Provision (13), then Collective Investments (7), Industry Regulation (5) and The Financial Services Sector (4). The less time you have left, the more closely you should follow this order.

More than six weeks left: cover the whole workbook

• Weeks 1 and 2: units 1 to 4 (30 questions together). They introduce the markets, products and vocabulary the later units build on. Give unit 3, Asset Classes and Financial Markets, most of this time, because it carries 14 questions on its own.
• Weeks 3 and 4: unit 5, Economics and Investment Analysis (21 questions). Split it into economics first, then statistics, financial mathematics, ratios and valuation, and do calculations in every session.
• Weeks 5 and 6: units 6 and 7 back to back (36 questions). Risk, return and portfolio construction in Investment Management feed directly into client suitability and recommendations in Investment Advice.
• Week 7: unit 8, Lifetime Financial Provision (13 questions): retirement, protection and estate planning.
• After each unit, practise its questions in the practice area and add every wrong answer to your review list. Keep the full mock exams for the last two weeks.

Two to four weeks left: follow the weightings

1. Units 5 and 7 first (42 questions), concentrating on objectives with calculations and client scenarios.
2. Then units 6 and 3 (29 questions).
3. Then unit 8 (13 questions), especially the retirement lump-sum calculation.
4. Finally units 4, 2 and 1 (16 questions). These chapters are short, so read their summaries and practise their questions rather than skipping them; each of their questions counts as much as any other.
5. Sit one full mock exam at the end of each week to measure your progress.

The last week: timed mocks and wrong answers

• Sit two or three full mock exams, 100 questions in 120 minutes, under exam-like conditions and with only a basic calculator.
• Watch your pace: after 60 minutes you should have answered about 50 questions.
• After each mock, spend longer reviewing than you spent sitting it: read the explanation for every wrong answer and note which unit it came from.
• CISI's free sample paper (100 questions, English only) maps each answer to a syllabus objective, which shows you which objectives to revise.
• Do not start a new chapter this week; go back to your weakest unit among the four heavy ones.

The day before the exam

• Light review only: formulas, your list of wrong answers and the traps below.
• Make sure you have completed CISI's Qualification Registration Form (QRF), because FA does not announce an official result until it is done.
• Check your booking confirmation, your ID and your arrival time. What to bring and what happens after the exam are covered in the exam day and results guide.

Calculations to drill

The syllabus sets out which calculations you must be able to do (see the syllabus guide). These are the ones with the most slips in the study notes we keep for each unit:

• Forward exchange rate (unit 3): forward = spot × (1 + quote-currency rate) ÷ (1 + base-currency rate), after scaling annual rates to the contract period. Inflation figures in the question are distractors.
• Compound interest (unit 5): "interest left in the account" means compounding: 1,000 at 4% for 3 years grows to 1,124.86, not 1,120.
• Gordon growth model (unit 5): price = D ÷ (k − g), where D is the dividend expected in one year, not the one just paid.
• CAPM (unit 6): required return = Rf + β × (Rm − Rf), for example 5% + 1.5 × 5% = 12.5%.
• Retirement lump sum (unit 8): divide the income shortfall by the return the client can earn, not by the inflation rate; inflation comes in at the next step.

Where candidates lose marks

From the traps we list in each unit's study notes, these pairs are the easiest to mix up:

• Unit 5: GDP versus GNP; the producer price index (seller's side) versus the consumer price index (households); raising reserve requirements reduces the money in circulation.
• Unit 7: risk tolerance (willingness) versus risk capacity (ability to absorb losses); execution-only stops being execution-only once the client asks whether a product suits them; tax avoidance versus tax evasion.
• Unit 6: systematic versus systemic risk; the Treynor ratio (beta) versus the Sharpe ratio (standard deviation); money-weighted versus time-weighted returns; the three forms of market efficiency.
• Unit 3: forward premium versus forward discount; an option holder has a right, and only the writer has an obligation.
• Unit 8: who carries the risk in defined benefit versus defined contribution pensions; decreasing versus increasing term assurance; an ordinary power of attorney ends when the donor loses mental capacity.

Client suitability runs through most of unit 7, and has its own suitability guide.

How to use this site

• Free practice test: the CME-4A practice test has 10 free questions covering the main units, no sign-up needed, with the answer and an explanation of every option. Start with it to see where you stand.
• Practice area: in the practice area you can practise unit by unit, keep a list of your wrong answers, flag questions and build your own quiz from questions you have not seen, got wrong or flagged.
• Timed mock exam: the mock exam draws 100 questions in the same unit proportions as the real exam, runs for 120 minutes and puts questions you have not seen in earlier mocks first.
• What is free: 10 free questions covering every unit. The full question bank and the mock exams need a pass for this exam (7 days or lifetime). With lifetime access, follow the two-to-four-week plan; a 7-day pass suits the final week of mocks.
• Every question and explanation is in Arabic and English, so you can check a term in the other language.
• Scores on this site are for practice only and are not an official result.