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Learning paths

Choose the path that matches your goal.

Path A — Foundations sprint

Use:

  • curriculum/bootcamp_01_foundations/README.md

Best for: - rapid PM foundations - portfolio optimization basics - fixed-income vocabulary - initial FICC fluency

Path B — FICC deep dive

Recommended after foundations:

  1. Fixed-income foundations
  2. Rates and curve analysis
  3. Credit and default/recovery concepts
  4. Securitized products and mortgages
  5. FX and commodities
  6. Scenario and attribution integration

Key notebooks:

  • notebooks/fixed_income/08_bond_math.ipynb
  • notebooks/fixed_income/09_duration_curve_risk.ipynb
  • notebooks/fixed_income/14_curve_construction_forwards.ipynb
  • notebooks/fixed_income/20_z_spread_and_credit_curves.ipynb
  • notebooks/fx_commodities/24_fx_and_commodities.ipynb

For rates, credit, and mortgages specifically, this sketch is the entry point, not the full route — see Rates, credit, and mortgages: zero to hero for every step from bond pricing through TBA/dollar roll and CMO/REMIC structuring, each with a reference page, notebook, and verified external resources.

Path B2 — Equity portfolio management

Recommended after foundations, alongside or after Path B:

  1. Dividend discount models and relative valuation
  2. CAPM, beta, and equity risk premium
  3. Equity factor investing and active share
  4. Shareholder yield and total shareholder return

Key notebooks:

  • notebooks/equity/28_equity_valuation_and_capm.ipynb
  • notebooks/equity/29_active_share_factors_and_shareholder_yield.ipynb

Path C — Portfolio construction specialist

Focus on:

  • portfolio theory
  • mean-variance optimization
  • risk and covariance models
  • constraints and transaction costs
  • robust optimization and Bayesian views

Key content:

  • notebooks/optimization/04_efficient_frontier.ipynb
  • notebooks/optimization/05_constrained_optimization.ipynb
  • notebooks/optimization/26_shrinkage_and_black_litterman.ipynb
  • notebooks/optimization/27_risk_parity_and_robust_optimization.ipynb

Path D — Quick reference

Start at:

  • reference/index.md

This is the fastest route when you already know the topic and need the formula, intuition, example, and code recipe.

Path E — Use-case driven

Start at:

  • use_cases/index.md

This is the best option when you want to learn by applying PM concepts to real portfolio problems such as hedging, spread shocks, and benchmark-relative analysis.

Path F — Agentic PM analytics

Start with:

  • reference/concepts/agentic_pm_analytics.md

This route focuses on the agent layer: tool schemas, grounded answers, evaluations, and deterministic analytics interfaces rather than new financial math.

Path G — Interactive mastery

Start with:

pmexpert

Say that in Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, or Codex — all three work.

This is the odd one out among the paths above: instead of choosing where to start, pmexpert chooses for you. It teaches the next concept you haven't mastered, in curriculum order, one question at a time, and remembers your progress automatically. Use /pmexpert quiz for a fast multiple-choice check, /pmexpert scenario to apply confirmed concepts to a real use case, or /pmexpert exam for a tougher multi-concept checkpoint.

See docs/mastery-guide.md for a full walkthrough. This is the recommended starting point if you'd rather be guided than pick a path yourself.