CFA or CISI 2026: How the FCA Lists Each Body’s Qualifications

Does the FCA set its own exams?

No. The FCA doesn’t set or run exams. Its Training and Competence sourcebook, in the appendix TC App 4.1, lists the qualifications it accepts for each regulated activity, and you sit those exams with the body that awards them, such as CISI, the CII or the LIBF.

The table calls the retail advice activities (2, 3, 4, 6, 12 and 13) the Retail Distribution Review (RDR) activities. For them it lists qualifications such as CISI’s Level 4 Investment Advice Diploma (IAD), which CISI says was built to the RDR exam standards, and the CII’s Diploma in Regulated Financial Planning.

Retail investment advice: RDR activities 4 and 6

Activities 4 and 6 are personal recommendations on retail investment products and on friendly society tax-exempt policies. The FCA’s table lists these, among others, as fully meeting the requirement:

Body	Qualification
CISI	Investment Advice Diploma with Financial Planning and Advice; Level 7 Diploma in Wealth Management
CFA UK	Investment Management Certificate (Level 4) plus other qualifications that meet the specialist standards for packaged products
CII	Diploma in Regulated Financial Planning
LIBF	Diploma for Financial Advisers; Level 6 Diploma in Financial Advice

Managing investments: activities 14 and 10

Activities 14 and 10 are managing investments and acting as a broker fund adviser. These qualifications carry the key 1, meaning each meets the requirement alone:

Body	Qualification
CISI	Level 4 Certificate in Investment Management; Certificate in Private Client Investment Advice and Management; Level 7 Diploma in Wealth Management; Investment Advice Diploma with technical modules your firm recommends
CFA UK	Investment Management Certificate at Level 3 or Level 4
CII	Certificate in Discretionary Investment Management

Level 1 of the CFA Program carries the key 2 for these activities, so the table pairs it with a regulation and ethics qualification marked 3, such as CISI’s UK Financial Regulation.

The CISI Certificate in Investment Management →

Is the IMC or the CFA a CISI qualification?

No. The Investment Management Certificate (IMC) comes from CFA Society of the UK, and the CFA Program from the CFA Institute. CISI does recognise them: its Investment Advice Diploma (IAD) factsheet (October 2021) says it exempts holders of suitable CFA UK, LIBF or CII qualifications from one of the two IAD core units, and the IMC Level 4 and the CFA are both on its list of entry qualifications for the Chartered Wealth Manager Qualification.

The Investment Advice Diploma →Chartered Wealth Manager entry rules →

How to read the FCA’s keys

The table uses keys to show how each qualification counts. For activities outside the RDR group, the key tells you whether one qualification is enough:

1: the qualification meets the requirement on its own
2 and 3: you need one of each, a technical qualification (2) and a regulation and ethics one (3)
4, 5 and 6: you need three, an introductory one (4), a regulation and ethics one (5) and a technical one (6)

For the RDR activities, the key a means the qualification fully meets the requirement on and after 31 December 2012, and b means it needs gap-fill as well. A qualification counts only if you gained it within any dates shown next to it in the table.

Every CISI qualification by level →

Sources: FCA Handbook · CISI and 3 more. Checked October 2026.