Authorized Training ProviderTrendUp’s self-paced preparation for the CFOA examination. Six modules on options, futures and risk, taught with worked examples and payoff diagrams, 265 exam-style questions with explanations, and timed mock exams on the real 100-question format. Study on your schedule and book the exam when you are ready.
One-time, with lifetime access
80 minutes, online and proctored
Options, futures and risk
Each with a worked explanation
No deadline and no prerequisites
We stand behind the preparation. Meet the three conditions below, and if you do not pass the CFOA exam on your first attempt, we refund every dollar of your training fee.
The refund covers everything you paid TrendUp for CFOA Direct, including installments. The $390 exam fee is paid to the ICFDT and is not part of the guarantee.
Most finance qualifications treat options and futures as one topic among dozens. Candidates learn the definitions, pass the exam and still struggle with the questions a trading desk or risk team asks on day one: what a spread will cost, how a hedge behaves when the basis moves, what happens to a position when volatility collapses.
The Certified Futures and Options Analyst is built entirely around those questions. It covers how derivatives are priced, how their risks are measured, how strategies are built, and how futures are used to hedge, speculate and arbitrage across commodities, rates, currencies and equity indices.
It is a specialist designation in derivatives strategy, relevant on both sides of the market: trading desks and brokers on the sell side, and hedge funds, asset managers and family offices on the buy side.
There are no prerequisites, no multi-year program and no levels to progress through. One 100-question examination, issued by the International Council for Derivative Trading, and a credential employers can verify with the ICFDT.
Everything listed here comes with your enrollment. The platform runs in your browser on any device, with nothing to install.
Six modules, a practice bank, timed mocks and a toolkit, with your progress tracked as you go.
Every strategy comes with a payoff diagram that shows the maximum profit, maximum loss and breakevens, alongside worked examples with real numbers.
Each question explains why the answer holds and links back to the lesson that covers it. Drill by module, by difficulty, calculations only, or the topics you keep getting wrong.
Build any of 20 strategies, move implied volatility and time, and watch the payoff and Greeks respond. Calculators handle expected moves, position sizing, margin calls and futures fair value.
Full mocks run 100 questions on the real 80-minute clock, with flagging and a navigator, and are scored module by module when you submit.
The bars show each module’s estimated share of the examination, based on the depth of the official curriculum. Options and options strategies together account for close to half.
What derivatives are, who uses them, and how markets evolved from Chicago grain to electronic trading and clearing.
Calls and puts, moneyness, pricing models, the Greeks, implied volatility, skew and expected moves.
Covered and protective positions, verticals, straddles, strangles, butterflies, condors, calendars and advanced structures.
Contract specifications, margin and mark-to-market, settlement, cost of carry, contango, backwardation and the basis.
Directional trades, calendar and intermarket spreads, arbitrage, hedging programs and options on futures.
Risk categories, trade management, position sizing, portfolio Greeks, trading psychology and regulation.
Prove you can price, structure and manage options and futures positions, not only place the orders.
Derivatives shape portfolio risk and return. Understand the hedges, overlays and volatility trades your firm runs.
Margin, basis risk, the Greeks and stress scenarios, covered with the depth a risk function needs.
Collars, covered calls and protective puts are in client portfolios already. Know how they behave before you recommend them.
Short and long hedges, cross-hedges and hedge ratios for producers, consumers and treasury teams.
A focused credential that signals derivatives competence to buy-side and sell-side employers, with no prerequisites.
Secure card checkout. No application and no waiting list.
Your login details arrive by email within 24 hours. Everything runs in your browser.
Lessons, practice and timed mocks at your own pace, with a readiness score that shows when you are there.
Register with the ICFDT and pay the $390 exam fee only when you decide to sit it. Taken online with remote proctoring.
CFOA Direct is the self-paced, exam-focused route. The L-Program adds a cohort, mentorship and career support for those who want them.
With CFOA Direct, the total cost of certification is $980: $590 for the training, paid to TrendUp, and $390 for the exam, paid to the ICFDT only when you are ready to sit it.
Pay by card in three monthly installments. Your login arrives within 24 hours of the first payment, with full access from day one.
Depending on your country, checkout may also offer Klarna or Affirm, which split the $590 into interest-free installments. The provider approves you and collects the payments.
At $590, it usually falls within a manager’s own sign-off limit. We invoice your firm directly or provide a receipt for reimbursement. See employer funding.
| Feature | CFOA Direct | TrendUp L-Program |
|---|---|---|
| Self-paced access | Yes | Semi-fixed dates |
| Interactive platform, practice bank and timed mocks | Yes | Yes |
| Video lessons | Yes | Yes |
| Live cohort sessions | No | Yes |
| 1:1 mentorship | No | Yes |
| Career placement and SRP | No | Yes |
| Guaranteed exam access | Yes | Yes, if progressing |
| Sponsored CFOA exam version | No | Yes |
| Money-back guarantee | Yes | No |
| Price | $590One-time, lifetime access | $1,497Standard rate, student discounts available |
Most firms set aside a learning budget each year, and at $590 CFOA Direct usually sits within a line manager’s own sign-off. Your employer can pay us directly, or you can pay and claim it back with your receipt.
Derivatives knowledge applies directly to trading, risk and portfolio roles, which makes this one of the easier training requests to justify.
Authorized Training Provider
Certified Futures and Options Analyst
The designation is awarded by the International Council for Derivative Trading, which sets the curriculum, administers the examination and issues the credential. CFOA Direct is TrendUp’s preparation program for it, authorized by the ICFDT.
Charterholders can have their credential verified with the ICFDT, so employers can confirm it directly.
Read the official CFOA program page at the ICFDTLifetime access to the CFOA Direct platform: six modules taught in full, 265 exam-style practice questions with explanations, timed 100-question mock exams, weak-area drills, a readiness score and the strategy lab. You also get the original video lessons, all official ICFDT prep material and Q&A support. It carries the money-back guarantee.
No. The $390 exam fee is paid separately to the ICFDT, so you only register and pay when you are ready to sit the exam. You are not locked into paying it upfront.
Yes. Choose 3 monthly payments of $200 when you enroll. Your login arrives within 24 hours of the first payment, with full access from day one. Depending on your country, checkout may also offer Klarna or Affirm, where the provider approves you and collects the installments.
No. Unlike the TrendUp L-Program, CFOA Direct is open enrollment. Complete checkout and your login details arrive by email within 24 hours.
CFOA Direct now runs on an interactive platform built from the official curriculum. Lessons include worked examples and payoff diagrams for every major strategy. The practice bank has 265 questions written in the style of the exam, each with an explanation and a link back to its lesson. Timed mocks run on the real 100-question, 80-minute format and are scored by module, and a readiness score tells you when you are ready to book. The original video lessons remain available alongside it.
Yes. CFOA Direct candidates sit the full CFOA examination, and the platform covers the whole curriculum: the derivatives market, options pricing and the Greeks, options strategies, futures contracts, futures strategies and risk management.
Complete all course lessons and quizzes before you take the exam, take the exam within six months of enrolling, and share proof of your result from the ICFDT portal. If you do not pass on your first attempt, we refund everything you paid TrendUp for the training, including installments.
It is fully self-paced, with no fixed start dates and no deadlines. The guarantee applies to a first attempt within six months of enrolling, but your access to the training never expires.
The CFOA is a 100-question multiple-choice examination, taken online with remote proctoring at a date and time you choose. You register and pay the $390 exam fee with the ICFDT when you are ready.
CFOA Direct is a self-paced, exam-focused route for people who want to prepare for and pass the CFOA on their own schedule, without deadlines, cohorts or recruiting components. It does not include career support, live mentorship, or eligibility for the SRP or job portal.
The L-Program is a cohort-based experience with three structured levels, mentorship, career development, live sessions and a sponsored exam attempt. Top performers are invited to SRP internships and post-program opportunities.
Top performers in the CFOA examination may be invited to an SRP bridge assessment, which can open the door to the SRP and further opportunities. This is by invitation only and requires an application and successful completion of the bridge assessment.
No. CFOA Direct candidates register for the standard CFOA examination. The sponsored version is part of the L-Program.
Yes. You receive a receipt at payment for reimbursement, or email programs@trendupnow.org and we will invoice your firm directly.
No. Student discounts apply only to the L-Program, for eligible university students and recent graduates.
Independent learners and busy professionals who want full control over their schedule, do not need mentorship or career placement, and want a direct path to the CFOA.
$590, or 3 monthly payments of $200, gives you lifetime access to the platform, the video lessons and the official prep material. Your login arrives within 24 hours, and you pay the $390 exam fee to the ICFDT only when you decide to sit it.
Choose how to pay, add your details, then pay securely by card through Stripe. About two minutes.
By enrolling you agree to be contacted about your CFOA preparation. The $390 ICFDT exam fee is paid separately when you register for the exam.