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Latest CFA®Exam Curriculum Updates

By: Kaplan Schweser
March 20, 2023
Latest CFA exam curriculum updates

In order to stay up to date with current topics and challenges professionals in the investment management industry face, CFA Institute updates the material covered in theCFA examannually.

Understanding which information is being updated and identifying what you need to learn at every level is a crucial aspect of creating asuccessful study plan. This is particularly important when developing your next steps following anunsuccessful attempt at the CFA examfrom a prior year.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

2024 CFA Program Updates

  • 我课程将有适度水平的内容和weight changes and significant structural changes in 2024.
  • The Level II curriculum will have significant content changes in 2024.
  • The Level III curriculum will have moderate content changes in 2024.

2024 CFA Syllabus Weight Changes

Some CFA Level I topics will have their weights adjusted in the 2024 season. Those topics are:

  • Quantitative Methods
  • Economics
  • Financial Statement Analysis
  • Corporate Issuers
  • Equity Investments
  • Fixed Income

Topic

Level I 2023 Weight

Level I 2024 Weight
Ethical and Professional Standards 15–20% 15–20%
Quantitative Methods 8–12% 6–9%
Economics 8–12% 6–9%
Financial Statement Analysis 13–17% 11–14%
Corporate Issuers 8–12% 6–9%
Equity Investments 10–12% 11–14%
Fixed Income 10–12% 11–14%
Derivatives 5–8% 5–8%
Alternative Investments 7–10% 7–10%
Portfolio Management and Wealth Planning 8–12% 8–12%

Adjustments to Prerequisite Knowledge Requirements

Candidates enrolled in the 2024 CFA Program season will be expected to understand and have a basic understanding of these commonly taught concepts:

  • Economics
  • Quantitative Methods
  • Financial Statements

CFA Level I candidates who do not have a basic understanding of these concepts or would like to review these concepts beforehand can study from any of the three new prerequisite readings being introduced in 2024.

New Prerequisite Readings

Approximately 500 pages of CFA material will be moved to “pre-requisite” status in 2024, so it will not be tested on but still be available for candidates as needed.

There will be 3 volumes of prerequisite readings included in the curriculum starting in 2024.

  1. Quantitative Methods (Volume 1)
  2. Economics (Volume 2)
  3. Financial Statement Analysis (Volume 3)

The purpose of these volumes will be to help candidates meet the Prerequisite Knowledge Requirements for the CFA Program.

Shorter Early Registration Periods

Exact dates are yet to be provided, but CFAI announced that early registration periods will be much shorter for the 2024 exams. For example, the February 2024 early registration period will run May-June (2 months), whereas February 2023 early registration ran May-August (3 months).

Practical Skills Modules for Level I and Level II

There will be new Practical Skill Modules for Level I and Level II candidates in 2024. These PSMs must be completed by candidates to advance but they are not included in the actual exam. The topics are:

  • Level I (candidates must complete one or both):
  • Level II (candidates must complete one or both):
    • Analyst Skills
    • Python, Data Science, & AI

Restructured Readings into Flushed-Out Learning Modules for Level I

2024年一级考试的阅读restructured into learning modules. This change is primarily a taxonomy change, where the larger readings get turned into smaller modules to make them more digestible.

2025 CFA Program Updates

The Level III CFA curriculum will have significant content and taxonomy changes in 2025.

Those content and taxonomy changes will be represented in a new core curriculum, the introduction of Practice Skills Modules (PSMs), and specialized pathways for Level III. The core curriculum for the Level III exam in the 2025 season will have 5 topic areas:

  • Asset Allocation
  • Portfolio Construction
  • Performance Measurement
  • Derivatives & risk management
  • Ethics

50-70% of the Level III curriculum will be these common core topics and the rest will be path specific.

Specialized Pathways for Level III

Incorporating specialized pathways for Level III candidates will be a very significant change that gets launched in the 2025 CFA Program season.

When registering for the Level III exam, you will need to choose a path:

  1. Legacy path (Portfolio Management)
  2. Private Wealth Management
  3. Private Markets

All paths will result in earning the CFA charter, these will just be emphases of your candidacy within the CFA Program.

Portfolio Management

The Portfolio Management pathway will have the following additional topic areas:

  • Equity Portfolio Management
  • Fixed Income Portfolio Management
  • 交易和执行
  • Case studies
  • Ethics in Portfolio Management

Private Wealth Management

The Private Wealth pathway will have the following additional topic areas:

  • Private Wealth Industry
  • Client Management
  • Wealth Structuring
  • Investment Planning
  • Ethics in Wealth Management

Private Markets

The Private Markets pathway will have the following additional topic areas:

  • Structures and Investment Process
  • Private Equity
  • Private Debt
  • Private Real Estate & Infrastructure
  • Ethics in Private Markets

Practical Skills Modules for Level III

In the 2025 exam season, the Level III CFA curriculum will include Practical Skills Modules. Practical Skills Modules will be short quizzes that candidates can take to test their understanding of each learning module.

考试Day Changes

Level III candidates will be tested on Corporate Issuers topics in the first session instead of the second session on exam day in the 2025 CFA exam season.

2023 CFA Curriculum and Weight Changes

All three levels of the CFA curriculum received major updates in 2023. The most notable changes were:

  • CFA Institute has slowly begun the process of dividing each reading into several “easier-to-consume” learning modules for all three levels.
  • The Level III exam will consist of randomly placed constructed response (essay) questions and item sets.
  • There were no weight changes for any CFA curriculum level.
Below we will break down the CFA curriculum changes in detail for each level of the CFA Exam.

2023 Level I CFA Curriculum and Weight Changes

The CFA Level I curriculum received major updates in 2023 but topic area weight ranges in 2023 did not change from 2022. The Level I curriculum now includes 73 “learning modules” (compared to 60 readings in 2022) and 543 Learning Outcome Statements (compared to 532 in 2022) and is no longer divided into Study Sessions. Below we break down CFA curriculum changes for Level I by each topic.

Economics

The Economics topic area features a new learning module, “Introduction to Geopolitics,” with four LOS.

Corporate Issuers

Corporate Issuers includes two new learning modules: “Corporate Structures and Ownership” and “Business Models & Risks,” each of which has three LOS. The learning modules “Capital Investments” (renamed from “Uses of Capital”) and “Working Capital & Liquidity” (renamed from “Sources of Capital”) add one new LOS each. Some material was removed from the learning module “Introduction to Corporate Governance and Other ESG Considerations.”

Derivatives

The Derivatives topic area was rewritten throughout. It now features ten learning modules, each of which includes two or three LOS.

Alternative Investments

The Alternative Investments topic area, which formerly included one assigned reading, now has three learning modules.

Try Today’s Level I CFA Practice Question

视场等级我问题

2023 Level II CFA Curriculum and Weight Changes

The CFA Level II curriculum received significant updates in 2023, though topic area weight ranges remain unchanged versus 2022. Below we break down CFA curriculum, reading, and weight changes for the 2023 CFA Level II Exam.

2023 Level II CFA Curriculum Changes Highlights

  • 2023 R14 “Financial Statement Modeling” was formerly 2022 R22 “Industry and Company Analysis”.

    • This reading moved from the Equity topic to Financial Statement Analysis for 2023.

  • In many 2023 readings, (#4, 11, 12, 14, 16, 20, 24, 25, 27, 33, 34, 36, 39), the LOS have been reordered (without other change).
  • Throughout the 2023 curriculum, CFAI has replaced references to LIBOR interest rates (which has been phased out in actual use) with references to a generic market reference rate (MRR).
  • CFA Institute has slowly begun the process of dividing each reading into several “easier-to-consume” learning modules. (e.g., 2023 R1, R32.)

2023 Level II CFA Reading Changes

Two CFA Level II readings are entirely new for 2023:

  • R17 – Cost of Capital: Advanced Topics
  • R18 – Corporate Restructuring

Three CFA Level II readings were substantially rewritten for 2023, and are being treated as new:

  • R1 – Multiple Regression
  • R14 – Financial Statement Modeling
  • R32 – Real Estate Investments

Two readings within the CFA Level II curriculum contain material changes for 2023:

  • R5 – Currency Exchange Rates: Understanding Equilibrium Value
  • R6 – Economic Growth

Several CFA Level II readings were deleted for 2023:

  • R1 Introduction to Linear Regression
  • R15 Capital Structure
  • R18 Mergers and Acquisitions
  • R19 Capital Budgeting
  • R21 Return Concepts

Try Today’s Level II CFA Practice Question

View Level II Question

    2023 Level III CFA Curriculum and Weight Changes

    For 2023 there were no new or dropped readings for the Level III curriculum and topic weights did not change. One major change for the 2023 Level III CFA curriculum is the exam format for both sections of the exam will consist of randomly placed constructed response (essay) questions and item sets.

    This means each section of the exam will consist of a total of 11 questions comprised of

    • either 5 constructed response (essay) questions and 6 item sets
    • or 6 constructed response and 5 item sets.

    Each item set will be 4 questions and all questions, item sets, and constructed response (essay) questions will be a total of 12 minutes (points).

    There is also a new2022 CFA Program: Level III Errata. Most notable is errata deleting any reference to how call and put options and swaptions affect a bond portfolio’s convexity.

    Try Today’s Level III CFA Practice Question

    View Level III Question

    What Is The CFA Program Candidate Body of Knowledge?

    TheCFA Program Candidate Body of Knowledge (CBOK), is a document that represents the core competencies used by investment professionals. The CFA Institute released the 2023 Candidate Body of Knowledge, which contains the latest survey results from investment professionals around the world about what should be included in the CFA 2023 Program curriculum.

    Assess your baseline knowledge of the Level I CFA Program curriculum with a free CFA diagnostic exam

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    CFA Candidate Body of Knowledge Topic Areas

    1. Ethical and Professional Standards
    2. Quantitative Methods
    3. Economics
    4. Financial Statement Analysis
    5. Corporate Issuers
    6. Equity Investments
    7. Fixed Income
    8. Derivatives
    9. Alternative Investments
    10. Portfolio Management and Wealth Planning

    What Is The Global Body Of Investment Knowledge?

    TheGlobal Body of Investment Knowledge®is an all-inclusive document about the knowledge needed for the investment profession. The concepts contained in the GBIK are for CFA charterholders to use as a source of inspiration for new concepts and lifelong learning opportunities throughout their careers.

    The GBIK® is maintained by theCFA Education Advisory Committee, which is composed of individuals around the world from various backgrounds in the investment management industry.

    Who Makes Changes To The CFA Curriculum?

    The CFA Institute makes changes to the CFA curriculum through the practice analysis process and guidance from the CFA Institute Education Advisory Committee.

    What Is The Practice Analysis Process?

    The practice analysis process is a methodology for the CFA Institute to keep the CFA curriculum up to date with current skills and competencies for success in the investment management industry. The Practice Analysis Process contains multiple stages from which the Candidate Body of Knowledge ultimately gets updated.

    CFA Exam Date Updates

    There are no major changes to CFA Exam dates in 2023 and candidates will continue to take the exam at a secure, proctored test center.

    CFA Exam Dates »

    How To Prepare For CFA Curriculum Changes

    The most important way to prepare for curriculum changes is to keep yourCFA prep materialsup to date. If you do decide to use previous years’ materials, try to avoid outdated topics and trends and focus on what will be present on the exam. Another great option is to join theKaplan Schweser Communitywhere you can ask fellow candidates and industry experts questions about curriculum updates.

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