Financial Information Associate

Want to build a career you’re proud of? Start with the FISD FIA as your foundation.

The Financial Information Associate (FISD FIA) is the professional credential you need if you work in the market, reference, or alternative data industry.

 

Success in this niche demands highly specialized knowledge spanning the markets, data, technology, and trends. The FISD FIA curriculum consolidates that information and puts it within your reach so mastery can take months instead of years to develop.

Establish yourself as an expert.

The most critical audience for the FISD FIA is practitioners with 0-3 years of financial information industry experience. That doesn’t mean it’s just for newbies. Earning the FISD FIA is challenging. More seasoned professionals will benefit from insights into different segments and functions within the industry.

Overview

Pricing

Register a group: Send an invoice request to FISD with the following information

  • Billing address
  • Participant full names & email addresses or number of participants if still confirming the final group
  • Choice of exam + eTraining or exam only

Learning Outcomes

Besides a sweet wall plaque and a shiny new post-nomial, earning your FISD FIA certification will help you better understand:

The Financial Information Associate (FISD FIA) is a Level 1 certification designed to provide baseline industry knowledge. Prepare for the exam using training that fits your schedule, or test your existing expertise by sitting the exam right away. You can take the “wait and see” approach to growing your knowledge, or you can take on the challenge of the FISD FIA to be certain you’re learning what you need to be successful.

General Questions

The FISD FIA is intended for people who work with market and/or reference data. That includes data users, salespeople, and other professionals working in the financial information industry who would benefit from an improved understanding of how the industry works. The most critical audience is people with 0-3 years of work experience, but candidates with more and less experience have both benefited from earning the certification.

The exam follows the FISD FIA syllabus which is divided into four sections: The Markets (30% of the exam), Data (30% of the exam), Technology (30% of the exam), and Issues & Trends (10% of the exam).

There are 150 multiple choice questions on the exam.

You may take up to 160 minutes (2 hours and 40 minutes) to complete the exam.

Yes. As soon as you’re comfortable, you can submit your exam to receive your results.

You must score at least 75% on the exam to pass. Scores are not rounded.

Login to your Webassessor account. From your Test Taker Dashboard, click Launch for the exam you wish to take. Your exam will begin immediately once you click Launch and there is no break, so be sure you’re able to devote up to 2 hours 40 minutes to your exam before clicking the Launch button.

About 76% of first-time FISD FIA candidates pass the exam.

Exam retakes are unlimited. There is no waiting period between attempts. Results never expire and scores are not published, so you don’t need to complete a retake unless you scored below 75%.

There is no required waiting period. As soon as you feel ready to try the exam again you’re welcome to do so.

The fee for a single exam is $500. The FISD FIA exam + eTraining package is $940 for FISD members, $1,040 for non-members.

Purchasing the FISD FIA + eTraining package is a savings over purchasing the exam and training separately (even for non-members, we’re nice like that). There are no other discounts available

Your result will appear immediately on your computer screen once you submit your exam answers. An email containing the same information will also be sent to the email address you provided during registration.

Plaque shipments are batched and handled by a third-party company, so FISD cannot provide an accurate estimate.

Send your correct name, exam date, and mailing address to FISD upon completion of your exam.

Yes. Confirm your preferred name with FISD and if you would like it to appear that way in the plaque, directory, or both.

Yes. Email FISD with your full name and exam date to request a PDF certificate.

Yes. Email FISD to request that your name be kept out of the FISD FIA directory.

Yes. Email FISD with your original name and your new name to have the FISD FIA directory updated.

Investigators should contact FISD to verify certification status.

Registering for the Exam

  1. Click the Register button on any of the FISD FIA pages or navigate to this URL.
  2. Follow the link provided on that page to create your personal Webassessor account.
  3. Follow the link provided on that to login to your personal Webassessor account.
  4. From your Test Taker Dashboard, choose the exam you wish to complete. Click Buy Now.
  5. If you have a voucher code, enter it in the box on the next screen. Click Apply. The outstanding balance will drop to $0.00
  6. Click Check Out. You will see an on-screen confirmation and you will receive an email confirmation of your registration.

That’s up to you! At-home FISD FIA exams can be taken whenever you want, with no advance registration required.

Contact FISD with your request to take the exam at a test center to receive up-to-date information.

Members: Contact FISD to be registered for your retake exam free of charge.
Non-Members: Sign into your Kryterion account and click Register for a New Exam. Choose the $150 retake exam.

During checkout, enter your voucher in the box marked Coupon/Voucher Code then click Apply. The balance due will drop to $0.00 and you will not be prompted for additional payment. Click Checkout to finalize your registration.

Bulk Purchases

Contact FISD to arrange a bulk purchase. Be ready with your choice of exams + eTraining packages or exams only, correct billing address, and either the names & email addresses of your participants or the total number of participants if still finalizing a group.

No. FISD lowered the price of the FISD FIA in 2019, so we no longer offer bulk discounts.

Support

Contact FISD to have your session reset or to receive a complimentary retake. In many cases, your exam can be reopened at the last question you answered so you won’t have to restart from the beginning.

During US ET business hours: Contact FISD

Outside of US ET business hours: Contact Kryterion support via live chat or email

Choose how you want to prepare for the FISD FIA exam

Formal training for the FISD FIA is not required. Your extensive industry experience may have armed you with enough knowledge to succeed on the exam. However, the typical candidate needs training on some or all sections of the syllabus to earn the FISD FIA. FISD invited a selection of trusted training providers to create preparation courses and material specifically tailored to the FISD FIA exam. Training options include public seminars, private classroom courses where the trainer can come to your facility, and online learning, so there’s bound to be a solution that meets your needs. All trainers are independent of FISD.

Contact Information

For sales inquiries and exam support please contact:

FISDcertification@siia.net

For exam support outside of US ET business hours, please contact Kryterion:

24/7 live support chat: https://kryterion.my.site.com/support/s/?language=en_US

Send an email: https://www.kryterion.com/contact-candidate-support/

In-Person Trainings

In-Person Public & Private Classroom Training 

FISD FIA Two-Day Training from FISD - Public Courses

Members: $1,600 | Nonmembers: $1,900

View Upcoming Courses on the FISD Events Calendar

Private and Bespoke FISD FIA Training in Your Office: Contact David Anderson to inquire

Fees variable based on course specifications

FISD has developed an intensive, in-person training course that prepares participants for the FISD FIA certification exam. This course will cover all the elements of the FISD FIA syllabus. Plus, students will benefit from the ability to ask detailed questions of the trainer and hearing anecdotal context for key concepts. Students also receive the complete Learning Modules video-based eLearning course. Certain video modules are required viewing before the classroom course while all modules are helpful as a post-classroom study tool.   

 

About your trainer:

David Anderson has worked in market data since September 1984, starting out as a sales executive for Telerate in London. He went on to spend nearly 13 years in various sales and marketing roles with what was then Reuters, a further 10 years operating a specialist market data consultancy, www.atradia.com, and has spent 12 years working with FISD. David created the FISD Professional Certification program and has been the author/editor of the FISD FIA syllabus and exam – now in its fourth version. For more background, see David’s LinkedIn profile.

How to book: Find an upcoming course in your area on the FISD events calendar or contact David Anderson to inquire

eTraining

Finance Modules

All new for FISD FIA v4.0. The self-paced Finance Modules eTraining course features 7 hours 40 minutes of video instruction divided across four modules that track with the FISD FIA syllabus: The Markets, The Data, Technology, and Issues & Trends. To supplement this content Learning Modules includes 140+ pages of notes, and four self-assessment quizzes, one after each module. 445 GBP fee per user.

FISD members may purchase an exam + Finance Modules training bundle for $940 USD (normally $1,035 if buying both). Click REGISTER to purchase your bundle online from the FISD exam catalog (you will need to create an exam account to proceed) or contact FISD to purchase your bundle via invoice.

Contact: Tony Gibson

Private Classroom Courses Only

TCAM

Consulting firm based in the Netherlands offering a two-day Expert training course is designed to teach candidates the essential knowledge for the FISD FIA.

Fee: dependent on trainer’s travel requirements, number of students
Contact: John Lathouwers   

Both Public and Private Courses
AFO Training Johannesburg

Two-day course based on the FISD FIA v4.0 syllabus. Class size is limited to 25 participants.

Contact: Kelvin Thomson

MDS at Work

MSD at Work is an Amsterdam based Market Data Consultancy firm offering two-day public Market Data courses that cover a range of industry topics as well as the FISD FIA v4.0 syllabus. Customized Market Data training programs can be conducted in a classroom environment or remotely and will include useful examples from our day to day consultancy practice. All trainers have gained experience at vendors or end user firms, and most recently at TRG Screen (previously known as Screen Consultants).

ContactArjen van der Sluis

To download a free copy of the FIA syllabus, please fill out this form.