What is the Certified Investment Analysis Specialist?

The Certified Investment Analysis Specialist is a globally recognised professional certification by the Global Leadership Institute (GLI), designed to equip professionals with advanced competencies in Finance & Accounting.

How long does this certification take?

The programme is 10 Weeks and can be completed at your own pace through our self-paced online option, or alongside live virtual sessions.

Is this certification globally recognised?

Yes. GLI certifications are internationally recognised and carry CPD credits, making them valuable for career advancement worldwide.

What level is this certification?

This is a Advanced Level certification, suitable for professionals with relevant experience or background in the field.

You can enrol by emailing info@certifications.ac, contacting us via WhatsApp at +254 722 223 084, or filling the enrolment form below.

Certified Investment Analysis Specialist in Zambia

Executive Summary

Certified Investment Analysis Specialist

Designed for today’s high-impact professionals, the Certified Investment Analysis Specialist (CIAS2) delivers a rigorous Advanced-level curriculum that equips participants with the knowledge, tools and frameworks needed to excel in financial management, accounting, budgeting and financial analysis.

This 10 Weeks programme is structured around IFRS, GAAP and recognised financial management and reporting standards, ensuring every graduate applies internationally validated methods to real-world challenges.

GLI’s CIAS2 holders are recognised by leading organisations across Africa, the Gulf, Europe and the Americas as qualified, results-driven professionals. Whether you are advancing your current career or transitioning into new responsibilities, this certification provides the competitive edge you need in 2026 and beyond.

Programme Overview

Certification at a Glance

Certification

Certified Investment Analysis Specialist

Acronym

CIAS2

Who Should Enrol?

Finance Officers and Accountants
Budget and Cost Analysts
Finance Managers and Controllers
Auditors and Financial Analysts

Programme Inclusions

Everything Included in Your Enrolment

All study materials and study guide
Access to GLI online learning portal
Online examination and assessment
Digital certificate and digital badge
Physical certificate (shipped to you)
CPD credits for professional bodies
GLI alumni network membership
Facilitator and tutor support
Resource downloads and reference library
Automatic enrolment confirmation

Certification Benefits

Why This Certification Matters for Your Career

Career Advancement

Accelerate your career towards senior finance, controller and CFO roles

Professional Recognition

Credential aligned with IFRS, GAAP and recognised financial management and reporting standards

Leadership Capability

Develop the strategic and operational skills to lead complex financial management functions

Organisational Impact

Design and implement financial management systems that drive performance and measurable results

Compliance Readiness

Master the standards, compliance and ethical governance central to financial management

Global Employability

Qualify for financial management roles across corporates, banks, NGOs and public-sector organisations worldwide

Competency Framework

Core Competencies You Will Develop

✦Financial Accounting, Reporting and Analysis

✦Budgeting, Planning and Cost Control

✦Corporate Finance, Investment and Valuation

✦Treasury, Working Capital and Cash Management

✦Financial Controls, Audit and Governance

✦Professional Ethics and Governance

Course Curriculum

Programme Modules

Click any module to explore the detailed curriculum topics included in this certification.

Foundations and Strategic Context of Certified Investment Analysis Specialist

Certified Investment Analysis Specialist: industry context, trends and professional standards
The role of finance in organisations and value creation
Financial, management and cost accounting distinguished
The finance operating model and business partnering
Accounting concepts, principles and the regulatory landscape
Financial statements and the accounting equation
Stakeholders and users of financial information
Ethics and professional standards in finance
Corporate objectives and shareholder value
The finance function and digital transformation
Building a finance career and professional development

Profit, Cash and Working Capital

Accrual accounting and the profit-cash gap
Treasury, liquidity and currency exposure
Budgeting, forecasting and variance analysis
Working capital and the cash conversion cycle
Costing methods and relevant cost for decisions
Financial modelling and forecasting discipline
Receivables, collections and credit control
Payables, procurement controls and supplier fraud
Payroll, statutory deductions and employment cost
Tax compliance and the tax risk agenda
Applying reporting standards and accounting judgement
Digital finance, mobile money and payment operations
Insurance, risk transfer and retained risk
The finance function, month-end close and reporting cycle
SME and relationship lending in practice

Investment Appraisal

Investment appraisal and the cost of capital
Treasury, liquidity and currency exposure
Budgeting, forecasting and variance analysis
Financial regulation and prudential supervision
Financial inclusion and serving underbanked markets
Reading financial statements as a manager
Internal control and the fraud triangle
Audit evidence, sampling and professional scepticism
Credit assessment and the five Cs
Expected credit loss and portfolio quality
AML, KYC and financial crime prevention

Reading and Presenting Numbers

Reading financial statements as a manager
Budgeting, forecasting and variance analysis
Audit evidence, sampling and professional scepticism

Control and Data Integrity

Internal control and the fraud triangle
Audit evidence, sampling and professional scepticism
Financial regulation and prudential supervision

Budgeting and Forecasting

Budgeting, forecasting and variance analysis
Accrual accounting and the profit-cash gap
Reading financial statements as a manager

Variance That Reaches a Cause

Budgeting, forecasting and variance analysis
Reading financial statements as a manager
Internal control and the fraud triangle

People and Development

Talent, succession and workforce learning
Creativity and critical-thinking development
Building and running a top team
Team leadership within finance
Managing resistance and upskilling teams
Team leadership in governance
Managing resistance and capability
Maturity and capability assessment
Policy development and drafting
Leadership and management development
Coaching models and frameworks (GROW)
Coaching and reinforcement
Development banking principles
Appraisal of development projects
Team leadership in L&D

Communication

Event and sponsorship communications
Communications analytics
Communication and conflict patterns
Brand, reputation and communications
Cryptography and secure communications
Professional portfolio and presentation
Presentation and public-speaking skills
Communicating and reporting to leadership
Professional presentation and defence
Running meetings that produce decisions
Presenting sourcing recommendations
Presenting financial information clearly
Crisis and reputation communication
Communication strategy in change programmes
Safety communication and campaigns

Stakeholders and Clients

Managing boundaries and dual relationships
Client feedback and satisfaction
Preparing financial statements
The project environment and stakeholders
Stakeholder and sponsor management
Stakeholder rights and fair treatment
Delivery, quality and stakeholder plan
Stakeholder identification and analysis
Stakeholder engagement strategy
Managing expectations and influence
Negotiation and conflict management
Relationship management and cross-selling
Wealth, SME and corporate relationships
Stakeholder communications
Influencer and partnership communications

Markets and Customers

Ethics and fair customer treatment
Service culture and brand promise
Customer experience transformation
Professional ethics in customer service
Customer service and CX strategy
Designing voice-of-customer programmes
Aligning service to brand and business
Sustaining strategic customer focus
Customer and journey analysis
Operational efficiency and productivity
Customer experience strategy
Banking products, services and delivery channels
Customer and community engagement
Treating customers fairly and market conduct
Data ethics and customer privacy

Technology and Systems

Social and digital PR
Interpreting financial statements
Performance management systems and cycles
Learning management systems (LMS)
Safety management systems (ISO 45001)
Digital finance and automation roadmaps
Innovation and fintech partnerships
Regulatory and digital transformation
Safety management systems overview (ISO 45001)
Management accounts and dashboards
Environmental management systems (ISO 14001)
Digital transformation in banking
Innovation and fintech collaboration
Branch-to-digital migration
Digital banking platforms and APIs

Strategic Context

Setting and communicating strategic direction
The strategic narrative
Real options and strategic investment
Sustainability strategy and materiality
Training needs analysis and learning strategy
Strategic workforce planning and demand forecasting
Reward strategy and total reward frameworks
Wellbeing and holistic health strategy
Designing a strategic or change intervention
Vision, mission and strategic intent
Competitive strategy and positioning
Key account management strategy
Building strategic customer relationships
Competitive and market intelligence
Translating insight into strategy

Projects and Delivery

Project initiation and chartering
Integrated project planning
Project management plan development
Resource planning and levelling
Quality planning and assurance
Communication planning and management
Building project relationships
Project management software and tools
Scheduling and planning tools
Project data, reporting and analytics
Automation in project delivery
Implementation and stakeholder plan
Scenario planning and foresight
Operational planning and workflow management
Leading procurement projects and change

Performance Measurement

Risk and control effectiveness metrics
Stakeholder trust and reputation metrics
Continuous feedback and performance conversations
Budget vs actual and variance
Leading and lagging metrics
Policy, planning and objectives
Strategy execution and the balanced scorecard
Managing team performance and dynamics
High-performance team rituals and cadence
Managing performance day to day
Contract performance and exit
Service quality and turnaround metrics
Sales performance and pipeline management
Social performance and outreach
Investment principles and objectives

Procurement and Suppliers

Fair trade and responsible supply
Procurement and asset management under donor rules
Vendor, venue and supplier contracting for events
Water supply systems: sources, treatment and distribution
Cost and profitability analysis
Forecasting and planning
Procurement and stock management for health commodities
Conflicts of interest and procurement ethics
Procurement and contract value
Procurement and contract management
Vendor selection and management
Procurement’s contribution to organisational strategy
Public versus private procurement
Supply markets and the enabling environment
Digital procurement and the future of the profession

Ethics and Conduct

Ethical, risk and feasibility considerations
Ethics of technology in practice
Professional ethics and responsibility (PMI)
Professional standards and ethics
Marketing and sales ethics
Decision support and insight
Communicating financial results
Roles, standards and professional conduct
Responsible and ethical service
Ethics and integrity in banking
Professional ethics and banking conduct
Ethical decision-making under pressure
Ethics and responsible leadership
Professional standards and ethics (CIPS)
Ethics and professional conduct in security

People Administration

Future of work and workforce transformation
The employee lifecycle and HR value chain
Workforce and shift management in retail
Workforce management and scheduling
Workforce planning and scheduling
Employee experience and engagement
Employee engagement models and drivers
Data protection and employee privacy
Belonging, culture and employee resource groups
Digital HR and the employee experience platform
Customer (employee/manager) satisfaction
Employee relations, discipline and fair process
Employee engagement and what actually drives it
Employer branding and employee value proposition (EVP)
Employee voice, surveys and action planning

Change

Change control and configuration
Organisational change management
Change and adoption in projects
Agile and digital transformation projects
Measuring change and project impact
Baseline setting and change control
Sales and marketing transformation
Measuring growth and transformation impact
Psychodynamic and psychoanalytic approaches
Digital and market transformation
Behaviour change and adoption of innovations
Foreign exchange and treasury operations
Foreign exchange and hedging
Change management and adoption
Finance transformation and target operating models

Sustainability and ESG

Integrated and sustainability reporting
Sustainability and social impact in projects
Market analysis and environmental scanning
Sustainability and responsible marketing
Carbon markets and climate finance
Monitoring sustainability outcomes
Monitoring, evaluation and sustainability plan
Sustainability certification and standards
Responsible and sustainable banking
Sustainable and green banking
Control environment and risk assessment
Emerging assurance areas (ESG)
Sustainability, ESG and integrated value
Attachment and developmental theory
The regulatory and legal environment

Learning and Research

Self-directed and continuous learning
Sustaining a learning organisation
Capstone scoping: a real learning challenge
Designing a learning programme or curriculum
Professional roles, boundaries and settings
Ethical principles and codes of practice
Peer support and consultation
Sustaining ethical, effective practice
Questioning, discussion and active learning
Blended and hybrid learning design
Multimedia and video for learning
Apprenticeships and work-based learning
Language and communication training
Wellbeing and personal-effectiveness learning
Community and lifelong learning

Financial Practice

Ethical frameworks and codes of practice
Duty of care and risk management
Quality management systems and audits
Record-keeping and data protection
Complaints, redress and accountability
Cost, feasibility and impact analysis
The banking system, intermediation and financial markets
Anti-corruption and financial-crime ethics
Regulatory duty and accountability
Operational efficiency and cost-to-income
Financial statement and cash-flow analysis
Concessional and blended finance
Infrastructure and PPP finance
Financial inclusion strategy
Feasibility, cost and quality analysis

Banking and Financial Services

Enterprise risk management in banks
Credit risk measurement and mitigation
Regulatory compliance and central-bank rules
Treasury function and money markets
Investment portfolio management
Development banking and project finance
SME lending and value-chain finance
Microfinance and group lending
Financial inclusion and agency banking
Alternative investments
Return on investment and impact
Cost-benefit and investment appraisal
Strategic alignment of investments
Access to finance, grants and investment
Complaints, accountability and fitness to practise

Risk and Control

Governance and compliance KPIs
Continuous improvement of controls
Driving measurable governance improvement
Governance frameworks and codes
Compliance frameworks and programmes
Compliance monitoring and testing
Headcount budgeting and establishment control
Vendor management and system governance
Employment compliance and the HR risk agenda
Legal responsibilities and professional bodies
Environmental legal compliance
Quality assurance and standards
L&D operating models and governance
Technical and compliance training
Working with a board and governance

Legal and Regulatory

Advocacy and policy engagement
Regulatory compliance and biosafety
Evidence-based improvement
Regulatory compliance and market requirements
Regulatory and fair-treatment obligations
Regulatory reporting and audits
Regulatory liquidity ratios (LCR, NSFR)
Contract law and formation
Contract exit and renewal
Regulatory and privacy requirements
Managing risk and difficult cases
Contract governance and compliance
Policy administration and customer service in insurance
Insurance regulation and consumer protection
Regulation of transport: authorities, conventions and licensing

Data and Reporting

Transaction monitoring and suspicious reporting
Control monitoring and reporting
Data analytics in audit
Evidence, judgement and scepticism
Professional report and presentation
Cloud and data security
Data migration and cleansing
Management reporting and decision support
Financial modelling and scenario analysis
Board and executive reporting
Board reporting and information flows
Analytical techniques and bias
Financial reporting frameworks (IFRS/GAAP)
Reporting quality and governance
Data visualisation for finance

Analysis and Decisions

Standard costing and variance analysis
Capital structure and financing decisions
Sensitivity, scenario and what-if analysis
Problem definition and analysis
Stakeholder and impact analysis
Retention strategy and turnover analysis
Inclusion and the fairness of people decisions
Legal, cost and feasibility analysis
Job safety analysis (JSA) and task risk
Root-cause analysis techniques
Trend analysis and leading indicators
Interest-rate risk and gap analysis
Spend analysis and segmentation
Training needs analysis
Root-cause analysis and problem solving

Operations and Process

Sales and customer-service training
Process re-engineering and shared services
Continuous improvement of finance processes
Process automation and workflow
Cost, quality and cycle-time metrics
Time-to-hire, quality-of-hire and cost metrics
Data quality, integration and master data
The HR operating model and business partnering
Lessons learned and development
Integration with quality and environment
Design review and quality
Coaching and quality monitoring
Performance management in service
Building a service culture
Leading service projects and change

Leadership and Management

Handling escalations as a leader
Teller operations, cash handling and vault management
Operational efficiency and channel management
Team leadership in banking operations
Reconciliation and nostro/vostro management
Liquidity risk and asset-liability management
Business continuity and crisis management
Sanctions screening and PEP management
Liquidity and funding management
Campaign execution and management
Thought leadership
Field sales and territory management
Tender and bid management
Reporting to leadership
Team leadership in sales and marketing

Professional Leadership Practice

Driving effective, ethical outcomes
Management review and improvement
Leadership versus management and when each is needed
Situational and adaptive leadership
Values, purpose and authentic leadership
Resilience, wellbeing and stress management
Capstone scoping: a real leadership challenge
Risk management and contingencies
Self-awareness and the leader's identity
Quality management and standards
Developing your own management practice
Disruption management: delays, claims and recovery
Energy efficiency and demand management
Range planning and category management
Ground control and strata management

Learning Outcomes

What You Will Achieve

Establish a comprehensive understanding of Certified Investment Analysis Specialist principles aligned with IFRS, GAAP and recognised financial management and reporting standards
Apply evidence-based methods to improve financial management, accounting, budgeting and financial analysis
Master financial accounting, reporting and analysis and budgeting, planning and cost control
Apply corporate finance, investment and valuation and treasury, working capital and cash management in real-world settings
Lead risk management, quality and compliance relevant to your field
Design stakeholder engagement and professional communication strategies
Use data-driven decision-making and performance-measurement tools effectively
Apply internationally recognised best practice to advance your career in financial management

Enrolment Process

How to Get Certified

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Step 1: Choose Your Certification

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Step 3: Study in the GLI Learning Portal

Work through 30 structured modules and 150 lessons at your own pace, with downloadable resources and expert-designed content — all inside the LMS.

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Sit your final examination online, earn your certificate instantly, and receive a globally verifiable Certificate ID — plus GLI Alumni Network access.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Common Questions

What is the CIAS2 certification?

Yes. GLI certifications are recognised across 100+ countries and are aligned with IFRS, GAAP and recognised financial management and reporting standards. Graduates receive a digital certificate, a physical certificate and CPD credits recognised by employers worldwide.

Who should enrol in the CIAS2?

This certification is ideal for Finance Officers and Accountants, Budget and Cost Analysts, Finance Managers and Controllers and Auditors and Financial Analysts, and other professionals seeking to formalise their expertise in financial management, accounting, budgeting and financial analysis with a globally recognised credential.

How long does the CIAS2 certification take to complete?

The programme is structured over 10 Weeks and offers flexible learning modes. Self-paced learners can progress at their own schedule, while live virtual participants follow a structured cohort schedule with facilitator-led sessions.

Is the CIAS2 internationally recognised?

What is the cost of the CIAS2 certification?

The Certified Investment Analysis Specialist is offered in two formats: Self-Paced at USD 449 and Live Virtual at USD 649. Corporate group rates are available for organisations enrolling 5 or more participants. Contact GLI for a bespoke corporate training quotation.

What does the CIAS2 certification include?

Enrolment includes all study materials and study guides, access to GLI's online learning portal, online examination, digital certificate and badge, physical certificate (posted), CPD credits, GLI alumni network membership, and ongoing facilitator support.

What is the assessment format for the CIAS2?

The Certified Investment Analysis Specialist is assessed through an online examination consisting of multiple-choice questions, case study analysis, and practical application assignments. The assessment is designed to evaluate real-world competency, not just theoretical recall.

What CPD credits do I earn from the CIAS2?

The Certified Investment Analysis Specialist carries Continuing Professional Development (CPD) credits, which can be applied towards professional body requirements including recognised international professional associations.

Can I study the CIAS2 while working full-time?

Absolutely. The self-paced option is designed for busy working professionals and allows you to study when and where it suits you. Live virtual sessions are typically scheduled in the evenings or on weekends to accommodate professional commitments.

What career outcomes can I expect from the CIAS2?

Graduates progress towards senior finance, controller and CFO roles. The CIAS2 strengthens your expertise in financial management, accounting, budgeting and financial analysis and positions you for advancement across corporates, banks, NGOs and public-sector organisations.

Certified Investment Analysis Specialist

Certified Investment Analysis Specialist

Certification at a Glance

Who Should Enrol?

Everything Included in Your Enrolment

Why This Certification Matters for Your Career

Core Competencies You Will Develop

Programme Modules

What You Will Achieve

How to Get Certified

Common Questions

What Our Alumni Say

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