The Certified Portfolio Specialist (CPS) is awarded by Interfima to people working in or entering financial services. This page gives you free practice sets grouped by topic, worked answers to sample questions, a short study plan and the exam facts that Interfima publishes, so you can see where you stand before test day.
The CPS takes about 60 minutes and costs €1,500[1] (Interfima, verified Oct 22, 2026).
Numbers in brackets link to the official sources listed under Sources & last verified. Dates that have passed are removed automatically.
| Item | Detail | Source · Verified |
|---|---|---|
| Number of questions | Multiple-choice and/or essay questions[1] | Interfima · Oct 22, 2026 |
| Time limit | 1 hour[1] | Interfima · Oct 22, 2026 |
| Passing score | 70%[1] | Interfima · Oct 22, 2026 |
| Exam fee | €1,500 (course + exam + certificate)[1] | Interfima · Oct 22, 2026 |
| Renewal | 3 hours of CE per year[1] | Interfima · Oct 22, 2026 |
| Delivery | Online or on-site, closed-book, proctored[2] | finra.org · Oct 22, 2026 |
| Eligibility | 3 years' financial-services experience, or a finance/economics/business/law degree[1] | Interfima · Oct 22, 2026 |
According to Interfima, “Multiple choice questions and / or essay type questions”[1]
The CPS is a professional certificate from Interfima, aimed at people who build, run or advise on investment portfolios. This page covers the exam as Interfima describes it; check the official programme page for anything that may have changed.
Delivery: the final exam is taken online or on-site, closed-book and proctored. The time limit is 1 hour, and questions are multiple-choice and/or essay type.
Scoring: the passing grade is 70%. Interfima does not state a retake policy in the material we checked, so ask them directly about resits before you book.
Eligibility: Interfima asks for 3 years' experience in the financial services industry, or an undergraduate or graduate degree in Finance, Economics, Business or Law from an accredited university, college or school.
Fee: the listed price is €1,500, which covers the course, the exam and the certificate. Confirm the current price with Interfima.
Renewal: holders must complete 3 hours of related financial training every year.
Our practice questions are written by us with AI tools and are not real exam questions. Use them to find weak areas, then go back to the official course material to fill the gaps.
The content areas below are copied from the official CPS content outline published by Interfima. The right-hand column shows which of our practice sets covers it.
| Official content area | Practice on this site |
|---|---|
| Capital Structure Policy and Dividend Policy[1] | Mixed practice tests above We have no set aimed at this area, so work from the official course material and practise explaining how financing choices and payout decisions affect investors. |
| Compliance and Regulations[1] | CPS Client Communication and Relationship ... Practise record keeping, disclosure and the duties you owe a client, since documentation and conduct questions tend to be about what you must be able to show afterwards. |
| Essential Finance Principles[1] | CPS Certified Portfolio Specialist Core Co... Refresh the basics such as risk, return and the time value of money until you can explain each term in a sentence. |
| Portfolio Elements[1] | CPS Risk Management in Portfolios Practise telling the building blocks of a portfolio apart and the kind of risk each one carries, for example credit risk on bonds. |
| Portfolio Theory and Asset Allocation[1] | CPS Investment Strategies and Asset Alloca... Practise how diversification, risk tolerance and objectives lead to an allocation, and why the mix matters more than any single holding. |
| Portfolio Types and Construction[1] | CPS Portfolio Construction and Design Practise matching a portfolio style to a client's goals and constraints, and the steps for building it. |
| The Fundamentals Of Portfolio Management[1] | CPS Performance Measurement and Evaluation Practise performance measures such as the Sharpe and Treynor ratios, and know which risk measure each one uses. |
Prepare for the CPS - Certified Portfolio Specialist exam with our free practice test modules. Each quiz covers key topics to help you pass on your first try.
These are practice questions written for this site, not questions from the real exam. Each explanation shows why the right answer is right and why the others are wrong.
Question: What is 'credit risk' in the context of bond investing?
Answer: B. The risk that a bond issuer will default on payments
Explanation:
The correct answer is that credit risk is the risk that a bond issuer will default on payments. The issuer promises interest and principal, and credit risk is the chance it fails to deliver them.
The risk of rising interest rates is interest rate risk: it hits the price of a bond you hold without any default. Currency devaluation is currency or exchange rate risk, which matters when a bond is priced in a foreign currency. Inflation outpacing returns is inflation risk, where the payments arrive but buy less.
Rule to remember: name the risk by the thing that goes wrong. If the borrower fails to pay, it is credit risk; if the market moves, the label is different.
Question: The Treynor Ratio differs from the Sharpe Ratio in that it uses which measure of risk in its denominator?
Answer: C. Beta
Explanation:
The correct answer is beta. The Sharpe Ratio divides excess return by standard deviation, which counts all risk. The Treynor Ratio divides excess return by beta, which counts only systematic (market) risk.
Standard deviation is the Sharpe denominator, so it cannot be the difference the question asks about. Semi-deviation looks only at downside variation and belongs to downside-risk measures such as the Sortino Ratio. Tracking error measures how far a portfolio strays from its benchmark and is used with the information ratio.
Rule to remember: Treynor suits a well-diversified portfolio because diversification has already removed the unsystematic risk, leaving beta as the relevant measure.
Question: What should be documented in a client's file after each meeting?
Answer: B. Notes on discussions, decisions made, client instructions, and any agreed-upon changes
Explanation:
The correct answer is notes on discussions, decisions made, client instructions and any agreed-upon changes. A file should let someone else reconstruct what was said and what was agreed.
Recording only new investment purchases misses instructions to hold, sell or change course, and misses the reasoning behind decisions. Recording only performance data tells you how the account did but not what the client asked for. Personal preferences unrelated to investments do not belong in the record, because they add nothing to the advice and may not be appropriate to keep.
Rule to remember: document the conversation and its outcomes. A clear record protects the client and the adviser and supports any compliance review.
Start with the official content areas from Interfima and note which ones you could not explain to a colleague. Those are your priorities.
Then take the practice set that matches your weakest area. Read the explanation for every question, including the ones you got right, and write down the rule behind each wrong answer in your own words. Repeat the set later without looking at your notes, and compare the results.
Move on to the next area only when you can say why each wrong option is wrong. Rotate through the remaining sets in the same way, and finish with the performance measurement set, since ratio definitions are easy to mix up and worth repeating.
Because the exam is closed-book and proctored, practise without notes, a calculator you would not be allowed, or a search tab. Because the format can include essay questions, also practise writing a short written answer to a topic from memory, then check it against the course material.
In the final days before the exam, do timed sessions to get used to the 1 hour limit, and reread your own notes rather than starting new material. Aim to be consistently above the 70% passing grade in your practice, but remember our questions are not the real exam, so treat that as a rough guide only.
Interfima lists the passing grade as 70%. The final exam is closed-book and proctored, and it can be taken online or on-site. Check the official programme page for any update before you book, since requirements can change.
The time limit is 1 hour. Questions are multiple-choice and/or essay type, so practise both reading carefully under time pressure and writing short, clear written answers from memory.
Interfima asks for 3 years' experience in the financial services industry, or an undergraduate or graduate degree in Finance, Economics, Business or Law from an accredited institution. Contact Interfima if your background does not clearly fit either route.
Interfima lists the price as €1,500, covering the course, the exam and the certificate. Fees can change, so confirm the current amount and what is included on the official programme page before paying.
Interfima requires 3 hours of related financial training every year to keep the certificate. Ask Interfima what kinds of training count and how to report it, as we do not have those details.
No. The questions on this site are written by us with AI tools and are not taken from the real exam. They help you find weak areas and practise the style, but the official course material remains the source for what is tested.
How we verify: editorial & fact-checking policy. Report an error: contact us.