CFA topics - level I curriculum breakdown

With so many different topics covered by the CFA curriculum and yet only limited time, it is important to study “strategically” (eg. knowing what exam topics are more important and becoming familiar with those topic first).

Table below shows the different components of CFA level I curriculum (in descending order of exam weight).

Exams topics	Exam weight
Financial reporting and analysis	20%
Ethical and professional standards	15%
Quantitative methods	12%
Economics	10%
Equity investment	10%
Fixed income	10%
Corporate finance	7%
Portfolio management	7%
Derivatives	5%
Alternative investments	4%
Total	100%

Source: CFA institute

As you can see financial reporting and analysis (20%) is the most important topic for level I, followed by ethical and professional standards (15%). Other important topics include economics (10%), equity investments (10%), fixed income investments (10%), etc. If you master the concepts in these topics, you already secured >60% of the exam score; in that case, passing the CFA exam should be a low-hanging fruit for you. I am not saying other exam topics, such as portfolio management, derivatives, etc., can be ignore; but these topics tend to be slightly more complicated for level I candidate, and they carry less weight in the exam. Now, you know how to better plan your study time.

Given my background (investment banking and asset management), I am a bit more familiar with / interested in financial reporting & analysis and equity investment. So I am going to write a “topic guide” on both of these topics to help candidates get a head start.