Priska

Mary

We posed some questions to two of our distinguished recent ACI Diploma Alumnae, Priska Gopaulen ACICMP and Mary Kanuku ACICMP about the programme and qualification.

Q. Do you believe the ACI Diploma syllabus offers a significantly higher level of knowledge of the financial markets than the ACI Dealing Certificate?

Priska:

The ACI Diploma syllabus is more demanding and provides a broader and more in-depth knowledge of the financial markets’ topics covered in the ACI Dealing Certificate.

Mary:

Yes, I loved the depth of the syllabus.

Q. Did you find the syllabus to be practical and relevant to your day-to-day work responsibilities?

Priska:

The ACI Diploma syllabus provided me with the core competencies required as a trader at the Global Markets & Treasury Management unit of The Mauritius Commercial Bank Ltd. It provided me with the confidence of possessing a thorough understanding and specialist knowledge of financial markets products. As a trader on the Fixed Income Securities Desk, I can now more efficiently manage my fixed income securities holdings with a better understanding of bond risk measures and provide enhanced insights to my team members as regards to hedging strategies of our fixed income holdings.

Mary:

Yes, now I understand the entire scope of treasury products and offerings.

Were the materials and tuition provided by Peter Skerritt & Associates sufficient for answering all of the exam questions?

Priska:

The E-Pal Learning System of Peter Skerritt & Associates is excellent! At first, I was a bit sceptical, since it was my first online course, and I was not sure if I would be able to cope with it. But the training materials, the questions at the end of each topic and of course the Mock Exams were just more than enough to pass the ACI Diploma Exam. More importantly, the online classes with Peter were great, he explained quite complex concepts clearly, with plenty of examples and practice.

Mary:

Yes, I did not have to look for any additional material. Kudos!

Is there an especially important tip you could give to prospective candidates?

Priska:

First of all, being myself a trader, I would highly recommend the ACI Diploma Course to other traders since, compared to other financial courses, it is more appropriate and focused on all of the skills required in a treasury dealing room.

Some tips to prospective candidates of the ACI Diploma Exam would be:

Always read the training materials before and after each online session and try the topic questions to test your understanding.

Make sure you’re familiar with the exam, for example, the number of questions per topic, the amount of time, etc. Attempt the Mock Exams before you go to the exam.

Stay focused on the course. I started my online classes in April and cleared the exams in September at my first attempt. I kept myself up-to-date with the course content during those six months.

Mary:

Read, read and re-read until you understand the syllabus very well. The mock exams are of great help for testing your knowledge and time management on the exam day. Also, make your study consistent; otherwise, you have forgotten important details by the time you finish a topic.