Certified Portfolio Manager and IRS Enrolled Agent Progress

Ryan Roloff |

It's been a busy year, but I have continued to develop my professional knowledge to better serve our clients. 

1. This week, I finished up the online/distance educational component for the Certified Portfolio Manager (CPM®) designation.  I started this program last December but then deferred when the medical needs for my dad became too time-consuming (and I actually wouldn't be able to attend the final week-long capstone.)  This entailed 55 online mini-courses that were expected to take 150-200 hours to complete.  The Academy of CPM describes the program as:

The Certified Portfolio Manager (CPM®) designation is a collaboration of the Academy of Certified Portfolio Managers and NYU Stern. The academic component is designed to provide a deeper understanding of fundamental security analysis, asset allocation, and portfolio management concepts for financial services industry professionals managing discretionary portfolios.

The curriculum encompasses eight core concepts:

  • Quantitative Methods
  • Financial Statement Analysis
  • Corporate Finance
  • Fixed Income Analysis
  • Equity Analysis
  • Fiduciary Responsibility
  • Derivatives
  • Portfolio Management

The Benefits

The CPM® Program advances your knowledge in three vital areas: Valuation Analysis, Portfolio Construction and Risk Management.

Candidates will sharpen their command of these fundamental areas while demonstrating their commitment to continuing education and industry knowledge.

2. I have two finals this week and then will have completed 12 of the 15 courses required for my Masters of Taxation at the University of Cincinnati.  I am currently earning a 3.767 GPA - I will admit I have kind of "mailed it in" on some of the corporate taxation courses dealing with things like mergers & acquisitions as well as lengthy research projects.

3. I am now setting up to take my IRS Enrolled Agent examination.  I just took a practice test without reviewing any study materials whatsoever and am right on the pass/fail line - I will get studied up on some of the tax rules I have never dealt with and should have this done by year-end and be ready to prepare taxes this coming spring.