The CFA Curriculum
For each of the levels, the CFA curriculum tests the students’ knowledge on 10 key areas, namely:
Ethics and Professional Standards
Quantitative Methods
Financial Reporting and Analysis
Economics
Corporate Finance
Equity Valuation
Fixed Income
Alternative Assets
Derivatives
Portfolio Management
Even though in all 3 levels, the CFA curriculum the topics are same, the focus shifts from theory to application, as we move up the level.
CFA Curriculum: Level I Exam
The Level I CFA Curriculum exam consists of 240 multiple choice questions to be completed in a six-hour time frame (one three-hour morning session and one three-hour afternoon session).
The Level I education program and exam heavily test on financial accounting concepts. Even though all the 10 topics listed above are tested, the importance is given to financial reporting and asset valuation. The Level 1 exam commonly has the lowest pass rate among all the three exams.
CFA Curriculum: Level II Exam
The Level II CFA exam comprise of 20 item sets. The exam is conducted in two sessions, morning and afternoon, with 10 item sets in each session. In Level II exam, the topics here are basically the same as the topics in Level I. However, there is a different weightage of the topics covered compared to CFA level 1
CFA Curriculum: Level III Exam
The Level III CFA exam contains essay type enquiries & item sets. The essay format is in the morning session and item sets, ten sets of consisting of six questions each, are in the afternoon session. The Level III exam has a strong focus on Portfolio Management. Concepts learned earlier in the CFA program are applied in a portfolio setting.
CFA Curriculum : Registering and Taking the Exams
CFA exams are conducted in major cities around the world. The Level 1 exam is conducted in June and December, while the Level II and Level III exams are conducted only in June. You can take the exam multiple times if you fail. However, bear in mind you need to pay for the CFA registration fees again. The fees for enrolling in the program and taking the exams are actually quite substantial.
CFA Curriculum: Preparing for the Exam
Once you register for the exam you receive the CFA curriculum books from the CFA institute. Each and every of the exam questions is developed exclusively from the curriculum, so it is important for you to master the contents of the syllabus. You can certainly get ready for the actual exam by just using the recognized CFA curriculum textbooks from the CFA Institute or you can opt to buy third-party study notes. Finance Train provides a CFA Level II Study Supplement as well. The study supplement is consist of up to twenty one weekly segments that can aid you capture the most important elements of the CFA exam that you cannot afford to give a miss. It can be studied in together with CFA Curriculum official study materials, practice questions, and practice exams, and will help students strengthen the understanding of the subjects so that they can easily pass the real CFA exam.