AIF Certification Exam: Key Topics and How to Prepare

Most AIF Candidates Underestimate the Exam Until They See the Questions

The AIF exam isn't about memorizing ERISA section numbers. It's about applying fiduciary principles to realistic situations — and if you walk in expecting a vocabulary test, you'll struggle. The exam issued by Fi360 consists of 80 questions completed in approximately 2 hours, with a passing score around 70%. Every question is scenario-based. Here's what the exam actually covers and how to prepare for it efficiently.

What Topics Does the AIF Exam Cover?

The exam is organized around Fi360's Prudent Practices framework, which has five steps: Organize, Formalize, Implement, Monitor, and Measure. Within these five steps, the exam tests the following topic areas:

• Fiduciary roles and responsibilities: Identifying who is a fiduciary, the duties of loyalty and prudence, co-fiduciary liability, and delegation of fiduciary authority.
• ERISA provisions: The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, prohibited transactions under Section 406, exemptions under Section 408, fiduciary liability under Section 409, and the role of the EBSA.
• Investment Policy Statements: Structure, required components, how an IPS governs investment decisions, and consequences of operating without one or with an outdated one.
• Investment selection and due diligence: Criteria for evaluating investment options, quantitative and qualitative screening, documenting selection decisions, and applying the prudent expert standard.
• Investment monitoring: Performance benchmarking, watch-list procedures, criteria for replacing underperforming managers, and the frequency of monitoring obligations.
• Fee disclosure and reasonableness: DOL 408(b)(2) regulations, revenue sharing arrangements, indirect compensation, and the process for determining whether fees are reasonable.
• Asset allocation: Setting appropriate asset allocation ranges, reviewing allocations over time, and understanding the relationship between asset allocation and investment objectives.
• Modern portfolio theory: Basic concepts tested include diversification, risk-return tradeoff, correlation, and their application to constructing and evaluating an investment lineup.

How Many Questions Per Topic Area?

Fi360 doesn't publish an exact breakdown by topic, but based on the structure of the Prudent Practices framework and candidate reports, the heaviest weighted areas are the Formalize step (IPS creation and maintenance) and the Monitor step (performance review and manager replacement). Together these two steps probably account for roughly 40–50% of exam questions. The Organize step (fiduciary roles and ERISA) accounts for another 25–30%. Implement and Measure together round out the remainder.

How to Study for the AIF Exam in 6 Weeks

Most candidates who pass on their first attempt spend 20–35 hours in preparation after completing the required 6-hour training. Here's a six-week plan that works for people studying around a full-time schedule.

Week 1 — Complete the Fi360 Training: Don't rush through the training materials. The 6-hour program covers the Prudent Practices Handbook and the concepts that appear directly on the exam. Read everything, take notes on fiduciary definitions, and pay attention to examples of fiduciary breaches. Many exam scenarios are drawn directly from these examples.

Week 2 — Master ERISA Fundamentals: Spend 4–5 hours focused specifically on ERISA. Know the five-part test for fiduciary status, the prohibited transactions under Section 406, how exemptions work under Section 408, and what personal liability looks like under Section 409. ERISA knowledge doesn't come naturally to most candidates — it requires deliberate study.

Week 3 — Deep Dive on Investment Policy Statements: Read multiple examples of Investment Policy Statements. Understand every section and why it's there. The exam frequently presents IPS-related scenarios: what happens when the plan operates without an IPS, how to handle an outdated IPS, or what the IPS should say about manager replacement criteria. You should be able to critique an IPS on sight.

Week 4 — Investment Selection and Monitoring: Focus on the Implement and Monitor steps. Know the quantitative criteria for screening investments (performance relative to peer group, benchmark comparison, Sharpe ratio, expense ratios) and the qualitative criteria (manager tenure, organizational stability, investment process consistency). Practice scenarios where a fund is on the watch list and determine whether it should be replaced.

Week 5 — Fee Disclosure and Practice Questions: Study DOL 408(b)(2) regulations and revenue sharing arrangements. Then shift to practice questions — as many as you can find. The goal is to get comfortable with scenario-based format and the logic Fi360 uses to evaluate fiduciary decision-making.

Week 6 — Full Practice Exams and Weak Area Review: Take at least two full 80-question practice exams under timed conditions (2 hours each). Review every wrong answer. Identify the step of the Prudent Practices framework you're weakest on and spend extra time there. Reschedule the actual exam only when you're consistently scoring 75%+ on practice tests.

What Makes AIF Questions Tricky

The scenario questions often have two answers that both seem reasonable. The key is understanding which answer is more correct given the Prudent Practices framework. Common traps include:

• Acting without documentation: Even a correct fiduciary action becomes a liability risk without documentation. The exam frequently rewards answers that emphasize documenting the decision process over answers that emphasize the decision outcome.
• Confusing 3(21) and 3(38) fiduciary roles: A 3(21) fiduciary provides investment advice but the plan sponsor retains final decision-making authority. A 3(38) fiduciary has full discretionary authority over investment selection. The liability implications are different — know both cold.
• Ignoring co-fiduciary liability: Fiduciaries can be liable for the breaches of other fiduciaries if they had knowledge of the breach and failed to remedy it. Scenarios testing co-fiduciary liability are common and easy to miss if you've only studied individual fiduciary duties.
• Over-relying on investment performance alone: A fund with great performance may still be a fiduciary breach if it was selected without following IPS criteria. The process matters more than the outcome.

Resources to Use Beyond the Fi360 Training

Fi360's Prudent Practices Handbook is the primary resource and should be your foundation. Supplement it with DOL guidance documents on 408(b)(2) fee disclosure, the EBSA's field assistance bulletins on fiduciary responsibility, and case studies from actual ERISA litigation (the Tibble v. Edison International Supreme Court case is particularly instructive for monitoring obligations).

For practice questions beyond what Fi360 provides, adaptive AI-driven practice tools let you drill weak areas without wasting time on concepts you already know. SimpuTech's AIF tutor generates scenario-based questions calibrated to the Prudent Practices framework and gives instant explanations tied to the specific exam topic. Try it free at SimpuTech →

Related reading: The Fiduciary Standard Explained for AIF Candidates and ERISA Fiduciary Duties: A Study Guide for AIF Candidates.

Certification details verified against fi360.com as of March 2026. Requirements are subject to change — confirm current details at fi360.com before registering.