Private Equity Certificate
Develop the core skills to analyze and evaluate private equity investments with the Private Equity Certificate. This intermediate certificate is designed for professionals who aspire to work in general partner roles and for consultants who advise them, and features practical assignments and financial modeling training developed with Financial Edge – a leading training provider for top private equity firms around the world.
Develop subject matter expertise
Built on globally recognized CFA® Program content, the Private Equity Certificate gives you the job-ready skills to build robust LBO (leveraged buyout) models, work with private market investments, assess deals, and define value creation strategies in private equity. You’ll also build foundational credit analysis and an understanding of debt structuring, valuation, and risk management used in private equity transactions. If you wish, you can use this knowledge as a foundation for further study with the CFA Institute Advanced Private Equity Certificate.
Why choose the Private Equity Certificate?
Practical financial modeling skills
Build robust three-statement and LBO models with guided practice and automated feedback to improve accuracy and confidence.
Career relevance
Build job-ready skills for general partner roles, or for roles at limited partners engaging with private equity investments.
Credible content
Learn from training designed in collaboration with industry experts and grounded in CFA Institute’s rigorous standards.
Applied investment insight
Strengthen your ability to assess private equity and private credit opportunities, analyze investment structures, and understand value creation strategies.
Professional recognition
Share your achievement on professional networks with a shareable digital badge on completion.
Due diligence support
Use model outputs to probe assumptions, scenarios, and deal risks in manager materials.
Who should enroll
- Professionals who aspire to work in general partner roles.
- Private equity consultants who advise general partners.
- Investment banking professionals seeking to transition into private equity.
- Analysts or associates working in private equity firms.
- Finance professionals and career switchers looking to build technical skills in private markets.
- Limited partners, asset owners, and consultants who need a thorough understanding of private equity from the investor perspective.
Roles suited to this certificate
If you work in any of the example roles below, this certificate builds the terminology, modeling skills, and practical context to engage confidently with private equity.
- Private Equity Associate
- Corporate finance / M&A Analyst
- Credit Analyst
- Equity Analyst
- Debt Capital Markets Analyst
- Venture Capitalist
- Transaction Advisory
- Strategy Consultant
- Lawyer/Attorney (securities, contract, corporate)
- Tax Consultant
- Fund Investor Relations
- Fund Marketing
- Performance Analyst
- Risk Analyst
- Investment Consultant
- Manager of Managers
- Outsourced Chief Investment Officer
Explore our private markets certificates
Build your skills with the CFA Institute private markets learning pathway – three certificates designed to support every stage of your career, from foundational knowledge to advanced private equity. Complete one or stack them together for a deeper understanding of this growing area of investing.
Curriculum
In this course you will gain essential analytical skills used in private equity, including analysis of fixed rate and floating rate corporate debt, and the use of derivatives for risk management. You'll also learn how to create cashflow statements using inputs from income statements and balance sheets, and how to perform ratio-based financial analysis. Then, you'll put it all together, developing your skills in financial modeling by creating historical and forecasted three-statement financial models in Excel.
In this course, you will understand the levers of value creation in private equity. You will be able to distinguish between different PE strategies, such as venture capital, growth capital and buyout, and select the appropriate investment based on goals. You will also gain an understanding of how PE firms align their interests with the managers of portfolio companies. There are multiple ways to exit private equity investments and this course will equip you with the knowledge of each alternative and the skill to determine the optimal method based on circumstances.
In this course you will learn the terminology and features that apply to a wide range of private debt instruments, and the key players in, and operation of, the private debt ecosystem. You’ll gain fundamental credit analysis skills, uncovering the drivers of corporate credit risk, and use discounted cash flow (DCF) models to value risky private debt. You’ll also learn how derivatives are used to manage risks in private equity transactions. Finally, you’ll develop your analytical skills by exploring an in-depth leveraged buyout (LBO) case study.
In this hands-on course, you will build upon your financial modeling skills and be able to model different streams of revenue. You will calculate taxes, model noncurrent assets and working capital, and analyse financial structure. At the end of the course you will be able to build an LBO (leveraged buyout) model.
This course will give you a solid understanding of the private equity fund raising process. You will be able to evaluate the strategic roles and decision making processes of general partners in the pre-commitment, commitment and deployment phases. You will also be able to analyse mechanisms general partners (GPs) use to align their interests with limited partners (LPs), such as governance frameworks, fee structures and incentives. You will also understand the due diligence process, both by GPs analysing target investments and by LPs analysing GPs.
The final assessment will be an online, open book assessment of 60 multiple choice questions. You will have 2 attempts to pass the final assessment and must achieve a passing score of 70%.
Access the Advanced Private Equity Certificate syllabus and learning outcomes and fact sheet for further info.
Learn via engaging content and activities
Work toward the Private Equity Certificate in a flexible way that fits your schedule.Self-paced online learning
Register and start studying straight away; you’ll have 12 months of access from registration, including content, activities, and the final assessment.
Further study
Develop your skills further with the Advanced Private Equity Certificate (you will need to complete the Private Equity Certificate as a prerequisite).
Voices of success: Certificate testimonials
See how the Private Equity Certificate has benefitted previous candidates.
Proactively upskilling, I chose the Private Equity Certificate to move from interest to fluency. It grounded me in fund structures, value creation drivers, and performance frameworks, which has elevated my conversations with PE managers and sharpened my assessment of their strategies. The toolkit adds value now in meetings and reviews, and it readies me for when opportunities open.
I took the certificate to better understand how value and cash flows move between LPs and the GP: return targets, hurdles, and waterfalls. It’s sharpened my ability to model outcomes, assess acquisition structures, and have more productive conversations with energy-focused PE sponsors.
The practitioner-led cases were the standout. They turned theory into applied modelling, valuation, and deal analysis, and gave me the confidence to assess transactions and communicate them effectively.
Private Equity Certificate
- Certificate – 5 course series
- Intermediate level
- 125 hours to complete
- Self-paced online learning
- 20 PL Credits
Frequently asked questions
You’ll have access to the learning materials for 12 months from the date of purchase. Learning materials and assessments can be accessed anywhere, online, providing maximum flexibility and convenience to candidates.
For the Private Equity Certificate, we recommend having a basic understanding of private markets, which can be gained through completing the Private Markets and Alternative Investments Certificate, CFA Level I, or relevant work experience. However, this is not a mandatory requirement.
To successfully complete the financial modeling assignments, you'll need access to the latest version of Microsoft Excel, ideally running on a Windows device. This ensures compatibility with all features and tools used in the course.
CFA Institute currently offers the foundational Private Markets and Alternative Investments Certificate, the Private Equity Certificate, and the upcoming Advanced Private Equity Certificate. These are the recommended options available at this time.
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