CFA Level I Exam Preparation
Build the foundation for the CFA Program with a structured preparation course for the Level I exam.
About this course
Build the foundation for the CFA Program with a structured preparation course for the Level I exam. It covers all ten topic areas of the curriculum, from ethical and professional standards and quantitative methods to financial statement analysis, the main asset classes and portfolio management.
Each topic is taught with worked examples and short practice sets, and the course closes with a full mock exam under timed conditions. You leave with a clear picture of your strengths, your gaps and a realistic plan for your final weeks of study.
What you'll learn
- Apply the CFA Institute Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct to practical situations.
- Use quantitative methods, including time value of money, probability and basic statistics, to analyse investments.
- Explain the economic concepts that drive markets, from market structures to monetary and fiscal policy.
- Interpret financial statements and the effect of accounting choices on reported results.
- Describe the features, valuation and risks of equity, fixed income, derivatives and alternative investments.
- Explain the basics of portfolio management, risk and return, and corporate governance.
- Practise Level I exam-style questions and complete a full mock exam under timed conditions.
Curriculum
- How the CFA Program is structured
- Level I exam format
- Topic areas and study priorities
- Building a personal study plan
- Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct
- Applying the Standards
- Introduction to the Global Investment Performance Standards (GIPS)
- Ethics case practice
- Rates and returns
- Time value of money
- Statistical measures and probability
- Sampling and hypothesis testing
- Simple linear regression
- Firms and market structures
- Business cycles
- Monetary and fiscal policy
- International trade and capital flows
- Currency exchange rates
- Financial reporting standards
- Income statement, balance sheet and cash flow statement
- Inventories, long-lived assets and income taxes
- Non-current liabilities
- Financial reporting quality and analysis techniques
- Organisational forms and stakeholders
- Corporate governance
- Working capital and liquidity
- Capital investments
- Capital structure
- Market organisation and structure
- Security market indexes
- Market efficiency
- Industry and company analysis
- Equity valuation concepts
- Fixed income instrument features
- Bond valuation, prices and yields
- The yield curve
- Interest rate risk and duration
- Credit risk and securitisation
- Forwards, futures and swaps
- Options
- Arbitrage and replication
- Pricing and valuation basics
- Features of alternative investments
- Private capital and real estate
- Hedge funds
- Natural resources and digital assets
- Portfolio risk and return
- Portfolio planning and construction
- Behavioural biases of investors
- Introduction to risk management
- Full timed mock exam
- Reviewing results by topic
- Targeted revision
- Final-weeks study plan
Who it's for
University graduates and finance professionals preparing to sit the CFA Level I exam.
Before you start
- A university degree, or final-year study, in any discipline, ideally with some exposure to finance or accounting.
- Confident use of a financial calculator and English good enough for professional finance texts.
Prepares for
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