Claritas vs IMC

Publication Date :

08 Mar, 2016

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Difference Between Claritas and IMC

Looking at both of these courses, you will find them affordable with many benefits. First, however, you must choose between the two, and we will guide you in the following ways. But before that, you need to understand a few things.

First, you should opt for the Claritas® Investment Certificate if you want a lot of flexibility. This exam is pretty easy to clear, and the mode is also very convenient. IMC (Investment Management Certificate) is also very good. However, it is more stringent than Claritas®.
Second, Claritas® and IMC both have almost zero entry barriers. So, if you choose to do any or both of them, there’s no exam requirement. You only need to be good at English.
Both are courses for people who want to add some knowledge to their portfolio. Although they cannot replace the value of doing CFA or CPA, or other financial domain programs, the value of Claritas® and IMC courses is quite good.

What is Claritas?

Claritas® is one of the best investment courses globally and is organized by one of the best institutes in the world – the CFA institute.

The best part of the Claritas® program is that you don’t need to have entry requirements or prior qualifications to sit for the exam in Claritas®. The only requirement is English proficiency in understanding the study material and giving the exam.
Another beautiful thing about Claritas® is that it’s only a 100 hours program, and you can do it at your pace. CFA Institute will provide all the materials (including eBooks and mock tests), and you need to prepare and take the exam within six months from the registration date.
The exam for this course is just 2 hours. You will be required to answer 120 multiple choice questions, and you’re done.
The fees for this course are very affordable. Getting a globally recognized course within this range is a boon.

What is IMC?

If you want to boost your career or be called an expert in the investment domain, choose this course. It is more popular in the UK as the CFA society organizes it but is relevant worldwide.

It consists of only two units, and you merely need to study for 180 hours.
The exam methodology is unique and helpful for students. Students can attempt this exam four times a year. As the percentage of marks is great, most students pass this exam without any issue.

Claritas vs. IMC Infographics

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Claritas vs. IMC Summary

Section	Claritas	IMC
Certification Organised by	Claritas is one of the best investment-related courses in the world. The CFA Institute, USA, organizes it.	IMC (Investment Management Certificate) is recognized and organized by the CFA Society, United Kingdom. This course is more popular in the UK than in the whole world. But the subjects taught under this course have relevance all over the world.
Number of levels	Claritas has seven modules. They all are Industry Overview (5%), Ethics and Regulation (10%), Inputs and tools (20%), Investment Instruments (20%), Industry Structure (20%), Serving Client Needs (5%), and Industry Controls (20%) respectively.	IMC has only two levels. They call them units – Unit 1 and Unit 2. The exam for each unit occurs separately.
Mode/Duration of exam	As we mentioned earlier, to pass the Claritas exam, you need to sit for 2 hours and answer 120 multiple-choice questions. And you’re done. But don’t go by just its examination. If you don’t prepare well, the chances are that you need to re-enroll yourself for the examination.	As mentioned earlier, IMC has two separate units. To clear the Unit-1, students need to sit for 1 hour 40 minutes and answer 85 multiple-choice, item sets, and gap-fill style questions; for Unit-2, students need to sit for 2 hours 20 minutes and answer 105 multiple-choice, item sets, and gap-fill style questions.
Exam Window	Giving an exam for Claritas is super easy. You can choose to sit for an exam anytime within six months from the registration.	Students can sit for the exam within one year of registration for IMC. Students can attempt four times a year to clear IMC.
Subjects	Claritas has a very small syllabus. Only 100 hours of study you need to do. If you do it with concentration, you can clear the Claritas exam. Thus, you can imagine there are no subjects but chapters under seven modules. Module – 1: – Chapter 1 – The investment industry: A top-down approach Module – 2: – Chapter 2 – Ethics & Investment Professionalism – Chapter 3 – Regulation Module – 3: – Chapter 4 – Microeconomics – Chapter 5 – Macroeconomics – Chapter 6 – Economics of International Trends – Chapter 7 – Financial Statements – Chapter 8 – Quantitative Concepts Module – 4: – Chapter 9 – Debt Securities – Chapter 10 – Equity Securities – Chapter 11 – Derivatives – Chapter 12 – Alternative Investments Module – 5: – Chapter 13 – Structure of the Investment Industry – Chapter 14 – Investment Vehicles – Chapter 15 – The functioning of Financial Markets Module – 6: – Chapter 16 – Investors & Their needs – Chapter 17 – Investment Management Module – 7: – Chapter 18 – Risk Management – Chapter 19 – Performance Evaluation – Chapter 20 – Investment Industry Documentation	In the case of IMC, there are two units, as we have mentioned before. In the case of IMC, there are no subjects, only topics. Let’s look at the topics under each unit. Unit – 1: Topic 1 – Financial Markets and Institutions Topic 2 – Ethics and Investment Professionalism Topic 3 – The Regulation of Financial Markets and Institutions Topic 4 – Legal Concepts Topic 5 – Client Advice Topic 6 – Taxation Unit – 2: – Topic 7 – Quantitative Methods Topic 8 – Microeconomics Topic 9 – Macro-economics Topic 10 – Accounting Topic 11 – Equities Topic 12 – Fixed Income Topic 13 – Derivatives Topic 14 – Alternative Investments Topic 15 – Portfolio Management Topic 16 – Investment Products Topic 17 – Investment Performance Measurement
Pass Percentage	The pass percentage is quite high in Claritas. The pass percentage till now is 85%. Almost 6,480 students have already passed out after completing their Claritas program.	The pass percentage for IMC is also quite high. In each of the exams, the pass rate is 80%.
Fees	Individual registration costs US$685 and includes access to all study materials, the exam registration fee, and one exam sitting. But if you pay the fees in the group, you may get some discount (around US $50).	In addition to your program fees, there may be additional charges associated with your studies, which include: IMC – unit 1 Examination fee: £240 IMC – unit 2 Examination fee: £255
Job opportunities/Job titles	The job opportunities for Claritas are noteworthy as it’s one of the best investment courses in the world, recognized by the top-notch CFA Institute. If you want to shift your career from any other domain to finance/investment, this is a very good course. It’s best suited for entry-level professionals in the investment domain and professionals already in the investment field.	If you complete IMC, you have huge recognition all over the world. Even if it’s more popular in the UK, the whole world is also embracing IMC with open hands. The two best job titles after doing IMC are Analyst and Fund Manager. You can also look into other financial domains for job prospects.

Key Differences Between Claritas and IMC

Fees: The fees for IMC are a bit higher than the Claritas®. Even if the difference is only a few thousand dollars, sometimes it makes a huge difference (hint – what if you don’t clear IMC in one go).
Convenience: Claritas® is much more convenient than IMC. If you want to pass Claritas®, you only need to sit for an hour or two. But for IMC, you need to sit separately for Unit-1 and Unit-2 examinations.
Entry requirements: Both of the programs don’t require any prior qualifications. But to complete IMC, it’s recommended that one completes their bachelor’s degree program.
Comprehensiveness: If you observe the syllabus of Claritas® and IMC, few subjects are similar. But the syllabus of IMC is more precise, whereas the curriculum of Claritas® is more comprehensive.

Why pursue Claritas?

There are a few fundamental reasons for which students should pursue Claritas®.

A candidate survey found that most of the candidates (almost 76%) want to pursue Claritas® because they want to increase their industry knowledge.
43% of the candidates did the course because it is affiliated with one of the top-notch institutes globally – the CFA institute.
30% believed that Claritas® would boost confidence in carrying out tasks in their current work domain.
27% wanted to do the course because they wanted to understand the value of getting a global professional network handy as a value addition to the course.
24% wanted to improve their career graph and thus went for the Claritas® course.
Moreover, it would be best if you found why you want to pursue a Claritas® course. But the above survey covers almost everything students should do it for.

Why pursue IMC?

Students should pursue IMC because it is one of the top-rated investment courses in the world. It is very flexible for students who are working professionals.
The syllabus of IMC is very much precise. There are only two units. Out of which, there are a total of 17 topics. You can study at your own pace. The only thing is you need to sit for the exam within one year of the registration date.
You will see that IMC teaches you about investment; it also covers management studies. Knowing about investment is not enough. You also need to know how to manage things in a professional setting. So, IMC is a culmination of both courses, making them unique and attractive to its students.

Conclusion

Business Philosopher Jim Rohn said that – “No matter what you do, make sure everything that you do is the product of your conclusion.” Take this advice to heart. Claritas® and IMC are both excellent courses. But after going through the material, you need to decide which applies to your setting.

Choosing a course over other courses is an overwhelming task. Thus, we gave the details of what you should pay heed to and what you should ignore.

But here’s what we think you should do. Of course, these are hypothetical situations, and they may or may not work in your professional career. However, if you want to enter the investment domain or start an investment analysis course, there is no more comprehensive course than Claritas®.

Moreover, it doesn’t require any prior qualifications, and you also don’t need to have any work experience in the same domain. So, if you’re working for IT, you can shift and do this course and join an organization that will let you take care of the investment analysis domain.

If you want to go for something core-based investment course, do IMC along with CFA. If you do both IMC and CFA, nothing is more lethal than that.