CFA (Global)

What you will practice:

• 10 topic areas (ethics, investment tools and core asset classes)
• Foundations for analysis, valuation and portfolio concepts used across investment roles

• Ethical and Professional Standards
• Ethics and trust in capital markets
• CFA Institute Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct
• Guidance for standards (loyalty, prudence, care; conflicts; duties to employers and clients)
• Investment research and recommendations standards (communications and record retention)
• Misconduct, misrepresentation, and market manipulation concepts
• Quantitative Methods
• Rates of return (time-weighted vs money-weighted; holding period return)
• Time value of money (discounting, annuities, perpetuities, amortization)
• Statistical measures (mean, variance, standard deviation, covariance, correlation)
• Probability concepts, random variables, and common distributions
• Sampling and estimation; confidence intervals
• Hypothesis testing (parametric and nonparametric basics)
• Simple linear regression and interpretation
• Basic portfolio mathematics and risk measures
• Economics
• Microeconomics: demand and supply, elasticity, consumer and firm behaviour
• Market structures (perfect competition, monopoly, oligopoly)
• Macroeconomics: GDP, inflation, unemployment, business cycles
• Monetary and fiscal policy tools and transmission mechanisms
• International trade and capital flows
• Currency exchange rates (spot and forward basics; parity conditions)
• Economic growth drivers and productivity
• Financial Statement Analysis
• Financial reporting system and standard-setting; disclosures
• Financial statements: balance sheet, income statement, cash flow, equity changes
• Revenue recognition, inventories, long-lived assets, intangibles
• Leases, income taxes (intro), provisions and contingencies
• Financial ratios (liquidity, solvency, profitability, activity)
• Cash flow analysis (CFO/CFI/CFF; common adjustments)
• Basic modeling logic (statement linkages; quality of earnings concepts)
• Corporate Issuers
• Corporate governance and stakeholder management
• Capital budgeting overview (NPV/IRR intuition)
• Cost of capital basics and capital structure ideas
• Working capital management fundamentals
• Dividend and share repurchase basics
• Corporate policies affecting value and risk
• Equity Investments
• Equity market organisation, trading mechanics and indices
• Equity valuation foundations (DDM concepts; multiples intuition)
• Industry and company analysis fundamentals
• Market efficiency basics and active vs passive implications
• Overview of equity instruments (common, preferred, depositary receipts)
• Fixed Income
• Bond features, cash flows, pricing and yield measures
• Spot rates, forward rates and yield curve basics
• Duration, convexity and interest rate risk measures
• Credit risk basics (spreads, ratings, default risk)
• Securitized products overview (MBS/ABS basics)
• Introduction to fixed-income valuation and risk management
• Derivatives
• Derivative instrument features and market structure
• Forwards/futures, swaps, options basics (payoffs and uses)
• Put–call parity (European options)
• One-period binomial valuation and risk-neutral pricing (intro)
• Hedging intuition (basic protective and covered strategies)
• Alternative Investments
• Categories and features (real estate, private equity, hedge funds, commodities, infrastructure)
• Structures and vehicles (direct, co-investment, fund structures)
• Performance measurement basics and return characteristics
• Liquidity, lockups, fees and risk considerations
• Role of alternatives in portfolio diversification
• Portfolio Management
• Portfolio risk/return and diversification concepts
• CAPM basics; systematic vs unsystematic risk
• Efficient frontier and capital allocation line concepts
• Risk aversion and investor utility
• Basics of portfolio construction and performance evaluation concepts

Tip: After topic practice, do mixed sets under time pressure and review missed questions immediately.

What you will practice:

• Same 10 topic areas as Level I, but deeper valuation and scenario-based application
• Item-set (vignette) style problem solving

• Ethical and Professional Standards
• Applying the Code and Standards to realistic scenarios
• Conflicts of interest, suitability and fiduciary duty in practice
• Quantitative Methods
• Multiple regression (estimation, interpretation, diagnostics)
• Time-series concepts (stationarity; autocorrelation basics)
• Machine learning concepts used in investment contexts (model evaluation)
• Simulation and resampling techniques for risk/return analysis
• Model risk and data issues (overfitting, bias)
• Economics
• Currency exchange rate determination and forecasting
• Economic growth, productivity and macro linkages to asset prices
• Monetary/fiscal policy impacts on yield curves and risk premia
• International trade/capital flows and macro-finance transmission
• Financial Statement Analysis
• Deep dive into reporting choices and quality of earnings
• Intercorporate investments; business combinations; VIE concepts
• IFRS vs US GAAP differences in key areas
• Employee compensation and complex disclosures (as covered)
• Financial statement modeling and adjustments for valuation
• Corporate Issuers
• Governance incentives, agency problems and control mechanisms
• Capital structure and payout policy analysis (impact on value)
• Corporate restructuring and M&A fundamentals (rationale and value drivers)
• Working capital and liquidity strategy in valuation contexts
• Equity Investments
• DDM variants; FCFE/FCFF; residual income models
• Market-based valuation (multiples and enterprise value)
• Private company valuation concepts
• Industry and competitive analysis for valuation
• Equity risk premia and growth assumptions linked to fundamentals
• Fixed Income
• Term structure modeling and valuation using spot/forward rates
• Corporate credit analysis: metrics, spreads and drivers
• Default probability and recovery concepts
• Structured products valuation and risk drivers (deeper than Level I)
• Fixed-income portfolio risk measures and scenario analysis
• Derivatives
• Forward commitments and contingent claims valuation (multi-period intuition)
• Option valuation foundations (binomial; Black–Scholes concepts)
• Interest rate and currency swaps: valuation and uses
• Derivatives for hedging and risk management (application-heavy)
• Alternative Investments
• Valuation and risk/return across alternative asset classes
• Private equity mechanics (capital calls, distributions, fees)
• Real estate valuation approaches (income approach; cap rates)
• Hedge fund strategies and risk exposures
• Commodities/managed futures and inflation-hedging logic
• Portfolio Management
• Multifactor risk and attribution ideas
• Active management and performance evaluation (more depth)
• Portfolio construction under constraints (liquidity; risk limits)
• Risk budgeting and advanced diversification considerations

Tip: After topic practice, do mixed sets under time pressure and review missed questions immediately.

What you will practice:

• Portfolio management and wealth/institution decision-making
• Common core content for all Level III candidates

• Ethics and Professional Standards (portfolio context)
• Applying the Code and Standards to portfolio decisions and client interactions
• Asset Manager Code of Professional Conduct (application; compliance procedures)
• Ethical challenges: manager selection, fees, soft dollars, allocation, reporting
• Capital market expectations and macro-to-portfolio linkages
• Building capital market expectations (CME) frameworks
• Macro inputs, regimes and scenario-based forecasting
• Translating CME into asset allocation assumptions
• Asset allocation
• Strategic asset allocation vs tactical asset allocation
• Liability-aware allocation (goals, constraints, risk capacity)
• Allocating to alternatives: suitability, liquidity planning, monitoring
• Portfolio construction
• Portfolio design under constraints (tax, liquidity, leverage, legal/regulatory)
• Risk management in construction (hedging, diversification, drawdown control)
• Rebalancing policies and implementation considerations
• Performance measurement, evaluation and reporting
• Performance attribution concepts and multi-period evaluation
• Manager selection, monitoring and due diligence principles
• Trading and execution considerations in portfolio contexts
• Derivatives and currency management in portfolios
• Currency hedging policy and instruments
• Using derivatives to adjust exposures and manage risk
• Overlay strategies (conceptual application)

Tip: After topic practice, do mixed sets under time pressure and review missed questions immediately.

What you will practice:

• Institutional-style portfolio management across multi-asset portfolios
• Implementation and monitoring at scale

• Pathway focus
• Advanced portfolio strategies across major asset classes
• Multi-asset portfolio risk management and overlays
• Fixed income and equity portfolio strategy integration
• Institutional constraints (policy, governance, mandate design)
• Implementation and monitoring at scale

Tip: After topic practice, do mixed sets under time pressure and review missed questions immediately.

What you will practice:

• Planning-driven portfolio design for private wealth clients
• Goals-based, behavioural and tax-aware constraints

• Pathway focus
• Private wealth industry and client segmentation
• Goals-based planning, risk profiling and behavioural considerations
• Tax-aware investing and after-tax portfolio decisions (principles-based)
• Concentrated positions, legacy assets and liquidity events
• Estate and wealth transfer planning concepts (principles and structures)
• Managing private wealth client relationships and constraints

Tip: After topic practice, do mixed sets under time pressure and review missed questions immediately.

What you will practice:

• Investing and due diligence in private equity, private credit and real assets
• Pacing, liquidity and governance in illiquid portfolios

• Pathway focus
• Private investments and structures (funds, co-investments, direct deals)
• Due diligence and manager/GP evaluation (process-oriented)
• Valuation and performance measurement issues in illiquid assets
• Liquidity, pacing and commitment strategies
• Monitoring, risk management and governance in private allocations

Tip: After topic practice, do mixed sets under time pressure and review missed questions immediately.