Master real investment strategy. Get certified. Earn your place.
Nine weeks of applied training led by active fund professionals, preparation for the ICFDT-issued CFOA, and one-to-one sessions with a hedge fund manager at every level. Top L3 performers are invited into the SRP, a selective 10-week internship inside a partner hedge fund, family office, or private investment firm.
Where our alumni have landed
TrendUp graduates have gone on to roles across investment banking, asset management, hedge funds, and private capital.
A selection of firms where TrendUp alumni have accepted roles.
1 ICFDT exam records for L3 participants who sat the CFOA. 2 TrendUp program records across all SRP cohorts to date. 3 Self-reported by alumni in post-program surveys, measured six months after graduation.
The L-Program develops investment capability across three progressive levels, with SRP selection based on performance.
Each level runs three weeks and is purchased separately, so you pay as you progress and can pause between levels when needed. Every level includes a one-to-one session with the fund manager.
Foundations of Investment Analysis
Build a framework across fundamental, technical, event-driven, and volatility analysis, then apply it in a live stock pitch and a one-to-one discussion with a fund professional.
Options & Derivatives Strategy
Design directional and non-directional options strategies, study probabilities and risk-reward, join a live trading session, and produce investment research.
Futures, Hedge Funds & CFOA Preparation
Move into futures, options on futures, hedge fund strategies, and portfolio risk while preparing for the ICFDT-issued CFOA examination.
Pay one level at a time. Interest-free installments are available through PayPal Pay Later. Every L3 completer receives the full first-attempt CFOA exam subsidy, a $390 value. Recordings of every live session are always available.
View the full curriculum →The strongest L3 performers are invited inside a partner fund.
The SRP is a 10-week analyst or trader internship at a partner hedge fund, family office, or private investment firm. It is not a simulation and not a certificate. Selection is made on assessed performance across L1 through L3, so the invitation is earned on the work itself.
- ◆10-week analyst or trader internship, remote or in person
- ◆Senior mentoring line with a fund professional who can serve as a reference
- ◆Investor Personality Report from a fund-specialist psychologist
- ◆Recruitment support covering resume, LinkedIn, and mock interviews
Invitations extend to the top quarter of the class. When additional partner seats are available, selection expands to the top third.
Every SRP participant has secured an investment internship or role.
A hedge fund manager reviews your work. At every level.
Each level includes a private one-to-one session with the fund manager covering your analysis, your decisions, and your career trajectory. Graduates consistently name these sessions as the most valuable part of the program, and they are how strong performers get noticed for the SRP.
See what each level covers →Built for serious candidates at every stage of an investment career.
Students & recent graduates
Turn an academic foundation into practical market work, professional feedback, and a recognized derivatives credential. Strong performers can progress into the TrendUp recruitment pipeline.
Early-career finance professionals
Move closer to investment strategy by building the derivatives knowledge, applied judgment, and fund-level feedback that day-to-day work may not provide.
Career pivoters
Build from the ground up toward applied investment work, whether you are coming from operations, sales, compliance, engineering, law, the military, or another field.
Bring TrendUp inside your organization.
TrendUp Finance delivers tailored derivatives and investment-strategy training for firms, desks, and analyst cohorts, with group delivery and CFOA exam preparation.
Explore TrendUp Finance ↗Why firms hire from TrendUp
The SRP exists because partner firms want it to. Hiring junior investment talent is expensive and uncertain, and TrendUp removes the guesswork. That demand is what makes a genuine internship seat possible at the end of the program.
The results speak in their own words.
▶
From the L-Program to Deutsche Bank in New York
After completing the L-Program and the SRP, Ike gained buy-side experience at a partner hedge fund before landing an investment banking analyst role at Deutsche Bank.
Watch on YouTube ↗
▶
A quantitative finance role before the SRP had finished
Bennett joined shortly before graduating, completed L3, and interned through the SRP. He secured a quantitative finance role while the internship was still underway.
Watch on YouTube ↗Hired within days of finishing the program. The CFOA and the SRP internship at Liberfield Capital gave me everything I needed to land the role immediately.
After completing the program I secured an Analyst role on the buy-side at an $80B fund. TrendUp gave me the skills and positioning to make it happen right out of the program.
The courses were based on what these guys actually do professionally, and I replicated those strategies in real life and used them in my interviews.
▶What I felt was most unique is the true 1:1 mentorship that I received from actual Hedge Fund Managers. Not professors. Not TAs.
▶I made the transition into a family office, and I have Alex and the TrendUp team to thank for that.
▶I can connect with like-minded people, and access buy-side finance professionals.
▶It was easy to balance TrendUp while having a heavy workload at school.
▶Unlike college courses, TrendUp gave me the experience, skills and knowledge to break into finance.
▶I really enjoyed the small cohort, and the instructors really seemed to focus on you.
CFOA Direct
For candidates who only want to sit the CFOA. CFOA Direct is self-paced preparation for the ICFDT's Certified Futures and Options Analyst examination, delivered through video lessons, quizzes, and practice exams, with instant access and no application. It is exam preparation rather than a development program, so it does not include live sessions, fund manager access, or SRP eligibility.
Seats are limited. The process is simple.
Cohorts are kept small so every participant gets real attention from the fund manager. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis, and the cohort closes once all places are filled.
Complete the short TrendUp application. No prior finance background is required for L1, only ambition and a serious interest in investing.
Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis. Places per cohort are limited and the cohort closes once they are filled.
Approved candidates are enrolled into the Fall 2026 cohort beginning September 26 and start L1 with their class.
Not ready to apply yet?Take the Buy-Side Readiness Score, a short assessment of where you stand today and what to build next. You can also explore the Investor Personality Index.
Take the BRS assessmentWhat is the time commitment and schedule?+
Who teaches the program?+
What does the program cost?+
Do I need a finance background to join?+
What is the CFOA certification?+
What is the SRP and how do I qualify?+
Can I take just one level, or do I need all three?+
Is the program open to non-US candidates?+
What is the difference between the L-Program and CFOA Direct?+
How do I apply?+
The next cohort begins September 26.
The application is short. L1 requires no prior finance background, and the program fits alongside university or full-time work.