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CFA 2024 Curriculum Overview

This document contains a list of learning modules for the years 2024 and 2023. In 2024 there are 73 learning modules organized across 11 subjects. The subjects include quantitative methods, economics, portfolio management, corporate issuers, financial statement analysis, equity investments, fixed income, derivatives, and alternative investments. In 2023 there are 7 modules in the first subject, 8 modules each in the next three subjects, 12 modules in financial statement analysis, 6 modules each in equity investments and fixed income, 10 modules in derivatives, and 6 modules in the last subject.

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517 views39 pages

CFA 2024 Curriculum Overview

This document contains a list of learning modules for the years 2024 and 2023. In 2024 there are 73 learning modules organized across 11 subjects. The subjects include quantitative methods, economics, portfolio management, corporate issuers, financial statement analysis, equity investments, fixed income, derivatives, and alternative investments. In 2023 there are 7 modules in the first subject, 8 modules each in the next three subjects, 12 modules in financial statement analysis, 6 modules each in equity investments and fixed income, 10 modules in derivatives, and 6 modules in the last subject.

Uploaded by

ANUP MUNDE
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as XLSX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
  • Economics
  • Quantitative Methods
  • Portfolio Management
  • Corporate Issuers
  • Financial Statement Analysis
  • Equity Investments
  • Fixed Income
  • Derivatives
  • Alternative Investments
  • Ethical and Professional Standards

2024

Learning
Module

10

11

4
5

1
2

1
2

3
4

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

3
4

10

3
4

5
2024
Subject

Quantitative Methods

Rate and Return

The Time Value of Money in Finance

Statistical Measures of Asset Returns

Probability Trees and Conditional Expectations

Portfolio Mathematics

Simulation Methods

Estimation and Inference

Hypothesis Testing

Parametric and Non Parametric Tests of Independence

Simple Linear Regression

Introduction to Big Data Techniques

Economics

Firms and Market Structure

Understanding Business Cycles

Fiscal Policy

Monetary Policy
Introduction to Geopolictics

International Trade

Capital Flows and the FX Market

Exchange Rate Calculations

Portfolio Management

Portfolio Risk and Return: Part 1

Portfolio Risk and Return: Part 2

Portfolio Management

Portfolio Management: An Overview

Basics of Portfolio Planning and Construction

The Behavioral Biases of Individuals

Introduction to Risk Management

Corporate Issuers

Organization Forms, Corporate Issuer Features and Ownership


Investors and other Stakeholders

Corporate Governance: Conflicts, Mechanisms, Risks, and Benefits

Working Capital and Liquidity

Capital Investments and Capital Allocation

Capital Structure

Business Models

Financial Statement Analysis

Introduction of Financial Statement Analysis

Analyzing Income Statements

Analyzing Balance Sheet

Analyzing Statements of Cash Flows 1

Analyzing Statement of Cash Flows 2

Analysis of Inventories

Analysis of Long Term Assets

Topics in Long-Term Liabilities and Equity

Analysis of Income Taxes


Financial Reporting Quality

Financial Analysis Techniques

Introduction to Financial Statement Modeling

Equity Investments

Market Organization and Structure

Security Market Indexes

Market Efficiency

Overview of Equity Securities

Company Analysis: Past and Present

Industry and Competitive Analysis

Company Analysis: Forecasting

Equity Valuation: Concepts and Basic Tools

Fixed Income

Fixed Income Instrument Features

Fixed Income Cash Flows and Types

Fixed Income Issuance and Trading


Fixed Income Market for Coporate Issuers

Fixed Income Market for Government Issuers

Fixed Income Bond Valuations: Prices and Yields

Yield and Yield Spread Measures for Fixed rate Bonds

Yield and Yield Spread Measures for Floating Rate Instruments

The Term Structure of Interest Rates: Spot, Par and Forward Curves

Interest Rate Risk and Return

Yield Based Bond Duration Measures and Properties

Yield Based Bond Convexity and Portfolio Properties

Curve Based and Empirical Fixed Income Risk Measures

Credit Risk

Credit Analysis for Government Issuers

Credit Analysis for Corporate Issuers

Fixed Income Securitization

Asset Backed Security (ABS) Instrument and Market Features

Mortgage Backed Secrurity (MBS) Instrument and Market Features

Derivatives

Derivative Instrument and Derivative Market Features

Forward Commitment and Contingent Claim Features and Instruments

Derivative Benefits, Risks, and Issuer and Investor Uses


Arbitrage, Replication, and the Cost of Carry in Pricing Derivatives

Pricing and Valuation of Forward Contracts and for an Underlying with Varying
Maturities

Pricing and Valuation for Future Contracts

Pricing and Valuation of Interest Rates and Other Swaps

Pricing and Valuation of Options

Option Replication using Put-Call Parity

Valuing a Derivative using a One Period Binomial Model

Alternative Investment

Alternative Investment Features, Methods and Structures

Alternative Investment: Performance and Returns

Investments in Private Capital: Equity and Debt

Real Estate and Infrastructure

Natural Resources

Hedge Funds

Introduction to Digital Assets

Ethical and Professional Standards

Ethics and Trust in the Investment Profession

Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct

Guidance for Standards I-VII


Introduction to Global Investment Performance Standards (GIPS)

Ethics Applications

TOTAL
20
Number Learning
No of LM's of Pages Module
11

1
39
2
39
3
45
4
19
5
21
6
17
7
20

25

19

60

13

8
45
9
28
10
25
11
34
12
50
13
18
14
35
15
15

51
54
52
55
53

54

55
36
56
41
57
33
58
49

7
28

29
32
30
27
31
27
32
37
33
37
34
36
35
28

12

16
32

17

51
18
29
19
30
20
17
21
32
22
30
23
34
24

25

26
33
27
66

62

53

36
73
37
37
38
33
39
35

40
47
41
38

49

49

19

42
19

43

30

44

21
45

27
46
19
47
28

28

20

26

25

28

21

22

35

25

29

20

29

34

10

18 1

29 2

21 3
11 4

29 5

19 6

20 7

24 8

19 9

18 10

26 1

27 2

25 3

26

23

29

32

59
28
60
18
61
179
62
8
63
35

93 3039 73
2023

The Time Value of Money

Organizing, Visualizing, and Describing Data

Probability Concepts

Common Probability Distributions

Sampling and Estimation

Hypothesis Testing

Introduction to Linear Regression

Topics in Demand and Supply Analysis

The Firm and Market Structures

Aggregate Output, Prices, and Economic Growth

Understanding Business Cycles


Monetary and Fiscal Policy

Introduction to Geopolitics

International Trade and Capital Flows

Currency Exchange Rates

Portfolio Management: An Overview

Portfolio Risk and Return: Part I

Portfolio Risk and Return: Part II

Basics of Portfolio Planning and Construction

The Behavioral Biases of Individuals

Introduction to Risk Management

Technical Analysis

FinTech in Investment Management

8
Corporate Structures and Ownership

Introduction to Corporate Governance & Other ESG Considerations


Business Models

Capital Investments

Working Capital and Liquidity

Cost of Capital - Foundational Topics

Capital Structure

Measures of Leverage

12

Introduction to Financial Statement Analysis

Financial Reporting Standards

Understanding Income Statements

Understanding Balance Sheets

Understanding Cash Flow Statements

Financial Analysis Techniques

Inventories

Long-Lived Assets

Income Taxes

Non-Current (Long-Term) Liabilities

Financial Reporting Quality


Applications of Financial Statement Analysis

Market Organization and Structure

Security Market Indexes

Market Efficiency

Overview of Equity Securities

Introduction to Industry and Company Analysis

Equity Valuation: Concepts and Basic Tools

Fixed Income Securities: Defining Elements

Fixed Income Markets: Issuance, Trading, and Funding

Introduction to Fixed Income Valuation


Introduction to Asset-Backed Securities

Understanding Fixed Income Risk and Return

Fundamentals of Credit Analysis

10

Derivative Instrument and Derivative Market Features

Forward Commitment and Contingent Claim Features and Instruments

Derivative Benefits, Risks, and Issuer and Investor Uses


Arbitrage, Replication, and the Cost of Carry in Pricing Derivatives

Pricing and Valuation of Forward Contracts and for an Underlying with Varying Maturities

Pricing and Valuation of Future Contracts

Pricing and Valuation of Interest Rates and Other Swaps

Pricing and Valuation of Options

Option Replication Using Put–Call Parity

Valuing a Derivative Using a One-Period Binomial Model

Categories, Characteristics, and Compensation Structures of Alternative Investments

Performance Calculation and Appraisal of Alternative Investments

Private Capital, Real Estate, Infrastructure, Natural Resources, and Hedge Funds

Ethics and Trust in the Investment Profession

Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct

Guidance for Standards I-VII


Introduction to the Global Investment Performance Standards (GIPS)

Ethics Application
FinTree Comments

Pre-requisite readings for Quant


1. Interest Rates, Present Value, and Future Value
[Link], Visualizing, and Describing Data
[Link] Concepts
[Link] Probability Distributions
[Link] and Estimation
[Link] of Hypothesis Testing
Hypothesis Testing + Parametric Test of Independence (2024) ~ Hypothesis
Statistical Measures of Asset Returns (2024) ~ Organizing, Visualizing, and D
Probability Trees and Conditional Expectations + Portfolio Mathematics (20
Estimation and Inference (2024)~ Sampling and Estimation(2023)
Hypothesis Testing + Parametric Test of Independence (2024) ~ Hypothesis
Simple Linear Regression (2024) ~Introduction to Linear Regression (2023)
Pre-requisite readings for Quant
[Link] in Demand and Supply Analysis
2. Introduction to the Firm and Market Organization
[Link] Output, Prices, and Economic Growth
[Link] to Business Cycles
[Link] and Fiscal Policy
[Link] Trade and Capital Flows
[Link] Exchange Rates
Firms and Market Structures (2024) ~ Topics of Demand and Supply + The Fi
Understanding Business Cycles (2024) ~ Understanding Business Cycles (202
Fiscal Policy + Monetary Policy (2024) ~ Monetary and Fiscal Ploicy (2023)
Geopolitics (2024) draws from 2023 version
International Trade (2024) + Capital Flows (2024) ~ International Trade and
Exchange Rate Calculations (2024) ~Currency Exchnage Rate (2023)

Portfolio Risk and Return _ Part I and II Draws from 2023 Readings
Portfolio Management: An Overview ~ Same as 2023
Basics of Portfolio Planning and Construction ~ Same as 2023
The Behavioral Biases of Individuals ~ Same as 2023
Introduction to Risk Management ~ Same as 2023

Organization Forms, Corporate Issuer Features and Ownership (2024)~ Add


Investors and other Stakeholders (2024) + Corporate Governance: Conflicts,
Introduction to Corporate Governance & Other ESG Considerations (2023)
Working Capital and Liquidity (2024) ~ Working Capital and Liquidity (2023)
Capital Investments and Capital Allocation (2024) ~ Capital Investments (20
Business Models (2024 ) ~ Business Models (2023)
Capital Structure (2024) ~ Capital Structure (2023)

Introduction of Financial Statement Analysis (2024) ~


Introduction to Financial Statement Analysis (2023) + Financial Reporting St

Analyzing Income Statements (2024) + Analyzing Balance Sheet (2024) + An


Cash Flows 1 (2024) +
Analyzing Statement of Cash Flows 2 (2024) + Inventories (2024) + Analysis

Topics in Long-Term Liabilities and Equity ~ Adds some of the Post Employm
Financial Reporting Quality (2024) ~ Financial Reporting Quality (2023)
Financial Analysis Technique (2024) ~ Financial Analysis Technique (2023)
Introduction to Financial Statement Modeling - Added reading from 2023 Le
Market Organization and Structure (2024) ~ Same as 2023
Security Market Indexes (2024) ~ Same as 2023
Market Efficiency (2024) ~ Same as 2023
Overview of Equity Securities (2024) ~ Same as 2023
Industry and Competitive Analysis (2024) ~ draws from Introduction to Indu

Company Analysis: Forecasting ~ New Content


Company Analysis: Past and Present ~ New Content
Equity Valuation: Concepts and Basic Tools ~ Same as 2023

Fixed Income Instrument Features (2024) + Fixed Income Cash Flows and Ty
(2023)

Fixed Income Issuance and Trading (2024) + Fixed Income Market for Copor
Fixed Income Market for Government Issuers (2024)
~Fixed Income Markets: Issuance, Trading, and Funding (2023)
Fixed Income Bond Valuations: Prices and Yields (2024) + Yield and Yield Sp
Yield and Yield Spread Measures for Floating Rate Instruments(2024 ) + The
Forward Curves (2024) ~ Introduction to Fixed Income Valuation (2023)
Interest Rate Risk and Return (2024) + Yield Based Bond Duration Measure
Yield Based Bond Convexity and Portfolio Properties (2024) + Curve Based a
Understanding Fixed Income Risk and Return (2023)
Credit Risk (2024) ~ Fundamentals of Credit Analysis (2023)
Credit Analysis for Government Issuers (2024) ~ Fundamentals of Credit An
Credit Analysis for Corporate Issuers (2024) ~ Fundamentals of Credit Analy
Fixed Income Securitization (2024) ~ Introduction to Asset-Backed Securitie
Asset Backed Security (ABS) Instrument and Market Features (2024) ~ Intro
Mortgage Backed Secrurity (MBS) Instrument and Market Features (2024) ~

No Changes
Alternative Investment Features, Methods and Structures (2024) ~ Categori
Alternative Investments (2023)
Alternative Investment: Performance and Returns (2024) ~ Performance Ca
Investments in Private Capital: Equity and Debt (2024) ~ Private Capital, Rea
Funds (2023)
Real Estate and Infrastructure (2024) ~ Private Capital, Real Estate, Infrastru
Natural Resources (2024) ~ Private Capital, Real Estate, Infrastructure, Natu
Hedge Funds (2024) ~ Private Capital, Real Estate, Infrastructure, Natural Re

No changes
s (2023)
2023 Curriculum
Reading 1
Pre-requisite Material

------->

Learning Module 1

Learning Module 2

Learning Module 3

2024 Curriculum
1. Can I use 2023 Material to prepare for 2024 Exams --->
2. Is level of difficulty increasing --->
3. Is it manadatory to go through Pre-requiste material -->
4. Will it be helpful to go through Pre - requisite material -->
5. By when FinTree Videos will be updated --->
6. Will you be sharing this excel file --->
7. What about Practical Skills Module ?

Common questions

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Corporate governance plays a critical role in mitigating conflicts of interest by establishing a framework of rules and practices through which a company is directed and controlled. Effective mechanisms include the implementation of independent boards, robust audit functions, stringent regulatory compliance, transparent reporting, and alignment of executive compensation with shareholder interests. These mechanisms help ensure that management decisions align with stakeholder benefits, thus reducing agency conflicts .

The Time Value of Money (TVM) is a fundamental principle in finance that reflects the idea that money available today is worth more than the same amount in the future due to its potential earning capacity. This principle impacts investment decisions by influencing how future cash flows are discounted to present value, thus aiding in investment appraisals. Common methods to evaluate this include Net Present Value (NPV), Internal Rate of Return (IRR), and Discounted Cash Flows (DCF) analyses .

Behavioral biases such as overconfidence, loss aversion, and herd behavior can lead individual investors to make irrational decisions that deviate from traditional financial theories. Such biases often result in poor portfolio choices and suboptimal returns. Strategies to mitigate their impact include financial education, implementing structured decision-making processes, and using quantitative tools to enforce discipline in investing practices .

Hedge funds differ from mutual funds primarily in terms of their investment strategies, which are often more aggressive and include leveraging, short selling, and derivatives. Hedge funds typically have fewer regulations, allowing greater flexibility but also higher risk exposure. They are designed for accredited investors focusing on absolute returns, whereas mutual funds are more regulated to protect retail investors and often aim for relative performance against benchmarks .

Derivative markets are characterized by contracts whose value is derived from underlying assets such as stocks, bonds, commodities, or market indices. They enable risk management through hedging, provide leverage, enhance market efficiency, and allow for price discovery within investment portfolios. Derivatives add value by enabling sophisticated financial strategies such as arbitrage, speculation, and hedging to manage financial risks .

Asset-backed securities (ABS) are financial instruments backed by a pool of assets, typically loans, leases, or receivables. They differ from other fixed income securities like government or corporate bonds, as they are created through a process called securitization, which transforms illiquid assets into tradeable securities. ABS offer higher yields and risk diversification benefits but also carry unique risks related to the quality of the underlying assets and the securitization process .

Hypothesis testing in finance involves using statistical methods to determine if there's enough evidence to reject a null hypothesis about a financial metric or market condition. Essential principles include selecting an appropriate test statistic, determining the significance level, and comparing the p-value to the significance threshold. In asset management, these principles can assess the effectiveness of strategies by testing claims about returns, risks, or market conditions, thus providing an empirical basis for decision-making .

Forward contracts obligate the buyer and seller to transact a specific asset at a predetermined price on a future date, thus providing certainty of pricing and managing risk for future transactions. In contrast, options contracts give the holder the right but not the obligation to buy or sell an asset at a specific price before a certain date, offering more flexibility. While forwards are often used for hedging price risk, options can be used for both hedging and speculative purposes to capitalize on market volatility .

Portfolio diversification reduces risk by spreading investments across various asset classes, industries, or geographic regions, thus minimizing the impact of any single asset's poor performance. The role of asset correlation is crucial; low or negative correlations between assets help enhance diversification benefits, as the movements of one asset can offset the movements of another, hence reducing overall portfolio volatility .

Yield curves, which graphically represent the interest rates of bonds of different maturities, are crucial in pricing and valuating fixed income securities. A normal upward-sloping yield curve indicates higher rates for long-term debt, reflecting expectations of higher future rates and inflation; this impacts bond pricing by discounting future cash flows at these varying rates. Conversely, a downward or inverted curve can signal economic slowdowns, impacting investor demand and pricing strategies for bonds .

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