An alphabet soup of designations!

When assessing a financial advisor's qualifications, most Canadians just don't know where to begin. Besides academic degrees, the plethora of professional designations in the industry tend to make people a little confused. Here is a mini-glossary of some of the more popular ones out there:

CIM: Certified Canadian Investment Manager -- a discretionary portfolio management designation of Canadian Securities Institute.
o Completion of 3 levels (courses), including the Canadian Securities Course.
o Experience Requirement: None

FMA: Financial Management Advisor -- A financial planning designation of the Canadian Securities Institute.
o Completion of 3 levels (courses), including the Canadian Securities Course.
o Experience Requirement: None

DMS: a professional designation of the Canadian Securities Institute specializing in the advanced concepts of derivatives and risk management.
o Completion of 5 levels (courses)
o Experience Requirement: None

FCSI: Fellow of the Canadian Securities Institute -- senior financial services designation *
o One of the above designations is needed (CIM or FMA), a licensing course, an additional course and dedication to continuing education (42 hours per year)
o Experience Requirement: at least 5 years of financial services experience in 8 years.
o Required to complete the Ethics Module and Case Study or the Ethics Seminar

CIMA: Certified Investment Management Analyst -- senior financial services designation *
o Pass 2 levels of exams, as well as maintain an average of 20 hours of Continuing Education per year
o Experience Requirement: 3 or more years of financial management experience


CFA: Chartered Financial Analyst -- the senior designation for investment analysis *
o Pass 3 levels of exams
o Experience Requirement: 4 years of acceptable professional work experience


CFP: Certified Financial Planner -- senior financial planning designation *
o Pass one exam after completing a FPSC approved education program, as well as maintain 30 hours of Continuing Education every year
o Experience Requirement: at least 2 years of personal financial planning related work experience

* Acceptance of these designations requires their holders to abide by certain ethical standards and guidelines set forth by the institution they are accepting it from.