R02 Exam: Investment Principles and Risk

What to Expect from the R02 Exam

In our series of blog posts focusing on the Diploma in Regulated Financial Planning we now turn our attention to the R02 exam. This is a level 4 exam and a compulsory element of the Diploma. The exam consists of 100 questions with 28 of the harder multi-response questions (the highest number of all the R0 exams). The current exam syllabus suggests that around half of the questions will be focussed on learning objectives 1 and 6 and you are likely to be given a number of questions involving calculations.

Top Tips

Read the exam syllabus to focus your in-depth learning on the areas most likely to be examined.

It’s worth bearing in mind that although the CII multi-response questions can be challenging a minimum of 2 of the answers will always be correct and historically most of the answers have exactly 2 correct options, the current exam guide had 21 out of the 28 questions with 2 correct answers (the other 7 questions had 3 correct answers).

Finally, practise calculations and familiarising yourself with the style of the questions. Most of the exam questions will be worded as a client scenario,  this often makes the questions seem harder than they are especially under the pressure of exam conditions.

Subjects

The objective of the R02 Exam, Investment Principles and Risk, is to develop the candidate’s knowledge and understanding of investment principles and risk and how to apply that knowledge on a daily basis. The syllabus covers all aspects of investment principles: their characteristics, risks, behaviour and correlation; investment performance; the macro-economic environment and its effect upon asset classes; investment theories; and the impact of risk on investment performance.

Exam Components

The R02 exam is worth 20 CII credits. It is an on-line multiple choice question exam which lasts for 2 hours and the nominal pass mark is 65%. Upon completion of the final question, candidates are immediately notified on their personal computer screen of their result (pass or fail).

Standard Costs

Costs for sitting the R02 exam can be found on the CII website, with a reduced rate available for members of The Chartered Insurance Institute.

Preparation

Exam preparation and revision materials, such as mock papers and calculation workbooks are considered by most exam candidates to be crucial to exam success. Brand Financial Training also offers study notes, elearning modules and audio masterclasses for R02. Click below for more information.

https://brandft.co.uk/cii-r02-ro2-investment-principles-and-risk/

Information in this article is correct as at November 2020