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About The CFA® Exam

All You Need To Know About The CFA® Exam.
The CFA® Program prepares you for a three-part exam, designed to demonstrate your investment decision-making abilities.

CFA Exam Overview

 

To earn the CFA® Charter, you need to pass all three exam levels (Level I, Level II and Level III).

Each of these exams focuses on different topics going from basic knowledge of investment tools, analysis with application of investment tools to concepts of analytic methods and much more.

Each level of exam takes around 300 hours to prepare. You can check official passing rate on the CFA Instiute webiste here. 

Find out more about each exam level and their key topics:

Level I CFA focus on the tools and concepts related to investment valuation and portfolio management, as well as an overview of how these processes fit within the guidelines of the CFA Institute code of ethics and standards of professionnal conduct. 

 

Topic Weights of the CFA Level I exam
  • Ethical and professionnal standards : 15-20%
  • Quantitative Methods : 6-9%
  • Economics : 6-9%
  • Financial Reporting/Statement Analysis : 11-14%
  • Corporate Finance/issuers : 6-9%
  • Equity Investments : 11-14%
  • Fixed Income : 11-14%
  • Derivatives : 5-8%
  • Alternative Investments : 7-10%
  • Portfolio Management and Wealth Plannning : 8-12%


You can take the exam four times per year :  February, May, August and November .


Format of the CFA Level I exam
  • 2 sessions of 2 hours and 15 minutes with one optional break :
    • During the 1 session, ethics & professional standards, quantitative methods, economics, financial statement analysis and corporate issuers are assessed. 
    • During the 2nd session, equity, fixed income, derivatives, alternative investments and portfolio management are assessed. 
  • Computer-based and multiple-choice (3 options)
  • 180 equally weighted questions (2 times 90 per questions)

In addition to your exam, you will be asked to complete a practical skills module that will take you around 10 to 15 hours. You will have to choose one topic between financial modeling, analyst skills and python programming. It will be mandatory to complete the practical skills module before receiving your results (you have no more than 90 days after day of results).

 

All our courses and study material are designed to cover all the topics of the CFA curriculum from CFA Institute and prepare you for the actual format of the exams : 

​ Check our training options for Level I    ​

​ Check our study material options for Level I    ​

Level II CFA candidates are expected to demonstrate a greater depth of understanding of the tools and techniques that were introduced in the Level I curriculum, in addition to applications in asset valuation within the context of the code of ethics and standards of professional conduct. 


Topic Weight for the Level II CFA : 
  • Ethical and professionnal standards : 10-15%
  • Quantitative methods : 5-10%
  • Economics : 5-10%
  • Financial Reporting/Statement Analysis : 10-15%
  • Corporate Finance/Issuers : 5-10%
  • Equity Investments : 10-15%
  • Fixed Income : 10-15%
  • Derivatives : 5-10%
  • Alternative Investments : 5-10%
  • Portfolio Managenement and Wealth Planning : 10-15%


You can take the Level II exam three times a year : May, August & November.


Exam Format for the Level II CFA : 
  • 2 sessions of 2 hours and 15 minutes long 
  • Computer based exam, item sets or "mini-cases" : each item set contains a vignette (with an average lenght of 1.5 pages) followed by 4 or 6 multiple-choice questions. 
  • 88 equally weighted multiple-choice questions (2 times 44 questions) 

In addition to your exam, you will be asked to complete a practical skills module that will take you around 10 to 15 hours. You will have to choose one topic between financial modeling, analyst skills and python programming. It will be mandatory to complete the practical skills module before receiving your results (you have no more than 90 days after day of results).


Our level II Study options are built to prepare you for the actual exam (content & format), leaving no surprise on exam day : 

​Check our level II training options​ 

​Check our level II study material ​

Level III CFA candidates are required to demontrate a higher level of understanding of the materials tested at level I and level II, as well as display effective knowledge of the entire portfolio management process.  65-75% of the exam content will cover the core curriculum, while the remaining portion will focus on a pathway to chose at the moment of your registration :  portfolio management, private markets, or wealth management.

Core curriculum content  

    • Asset Allocation
    • Portfolio Construction
    • Performance Measurement
    • Derivatives and Risk Management
    • Ethics

Pathway content : portfolio management

    • Index-based equity strategies.
    • Active equity management: strategies.
    • Active equity management: portfolio construction.
    • Index-based and liability-based bond management strategies.
    • Active bond management: yield curve strategies.
    • Active bond management: credit strategies.
    • Case study in institutional portfolio management.
    • Trading strategy and execution.

Pathway content : private markets

    • Private investments and structures: investment methods, comparison with public markets.
    • Shareholder perspectives and investment processes: roles of majority and minority partners, alignment of interests, and fund performance.
    • Equity investment: strategies, valuation, risks, and returns.
    • Private debt: debt financing, ratio analysis.
    • Private special situations: opportunities related to financial dislocations, complex situations.
    • Private real estate: characteristics, valuation, risks, and returns.
    • Infrastructure: investment methods, processes, valuation.

Pathway Content : Private Wealth 

    • The wealth management market.
    • Collaborating with high-net-worth clients : family dynamics, complex structures, and governance.
    • Financial planning.
    • Investment planning.
    • Asset and capital preservation: risk management, strategies against inflation and currency volatility.
    • Advising high-net-worth clients.
    • Wealth transfer: gifts, inheritance, philanthropy.

You can take the exam twice a year : February and August. 


Exam format at Level III CFA : 
  • 2 sessions of 2 hours and 12 minutes. 
  • Computer based exam. Vignettes/item sets with multiple choice and constructed response questions. 
  • In each session you have 5 or 6 constructed response (essay) questions and 5 or 6 items sets. 


All our Level III preparation options have been designed based on the official curriculum and format :

​Check our training options for level III CFA ​

​Check our study materials for level III CFA ​

Still not sure if CFA is the right certificate for you?

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Earn Your Charter

 

Here is the list of requirements you need to meet

Education

One of the following must be met:

  • Have a bachelor’s degree or equivalent

  • Or have the exam date scheduled 23 months or fewer before your graduation month for your bachelor's degree

  • Or have 4 years of relevant work experience

  • Or have a combination of professional work and university experience that totals at least four years.

Experience

Must have 4 years of professional work experience in the investment decision making process (accrued before, during, or after the CFA® Program).

Exam

Pass the three-level exam administered by CFA Institute with Level I, II and III offered annually in February, May, August & November.

License

  • Pledge to adhere to CFA Institute Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct

  • Join CFA Institute as a regular member.