Level II Curriculum: What Changed for 2022
The CFA® Program curriculum equips candidates with relevant knowledge and skills that reflect current investment management practice.
As part of our commitment to prioritizing the interests of our candidates and helping minimize the impact of pandemic-related disruptions, CFA Institute froze the 2020 CFA Program curriculum for 2021 exam administrations. This meant that all candidates who took exams in 2021 were tested on the 2020 CFA Program curriculum. Despite this freeze for candidates, the curriculum continued to evolve. Extensive work through practice analysis and curriculum development has resulted in revisions across all levels of the curriculum.
When you register for your CFA Program exam, you receive the curriculum aligned with the exam you will take. Exam questions will be based solely on the current curriculum year readings.
Refer to the key and tables below to see what has changed in Level II of the CFA Program curriculum over the past two years, and download our Level II infographic (pdf) and Guide to 2022 CFA Program Curriculum Changes (pdf) for more information.
- Update: Smallest degree of change. Data, examples, and references were brought up to date.
- Revision: Medium degree of change. Content was adjusted and improved for clarity or accuracy.
- Major Revision: Largest degree of change. Content was rewritten or significantly altered to reflect new guidance or advances in the industry.
- Added: New area of content introduced to the curriculum.
- Dropped: Reading no longer appears in the curriculum. Material was no longer relevant or was better captured elsewhere.
- No Changes: Content remains the same as in the 2020 curriculum.
| Reading | Change | Summary of Changes |
|---|---|---|
| Introduction to Linear Regression | Complete Revision | Completely new reading Duplicated in Level II for 2022 only |
| Multiple Regression | No Changes | |
| Time-Series Analysis | No Changes | |
| Machine Learning | Updated | Added three new cases using investment datasets |
| Big Data Projects | No Changes | |
| Excerpt from "Probabilistic Approaches: Scenario Analysis, Decision Trees, and Simulations | Dropped | Replaced by Backtesting & Simulation in Portfolio Management reading |
| Reading | Change | Summary of Changes |
|---|---|---|
| Currency Exchange Rates: Understanding Equilibrium Value | Updated | |
| Economic Growth | Updated | Eliminated or revised conceptual material on economic growth models for clarity |
| Economics of Regulation | Updated | Updated to ensure content reflects current regulations |
| Reading | Change | Summary of Changes |
|---|---|---|
| Intercorporate Investments | No Changes | |
| Employee Compensation: Post-Employment and Share-Based | No Changes | |
| Multinational Operations | No Changes | |
| Analysis of Financial Institutions | No Changes | |
| Evaluating Quality of Financial Reports | No Changes | |
| Integration of Financial Statement Analysis Techniques | No Changes |
Changed from Corporate Finance
| Reading | Change | Summary of Changes |
|---|---|---|
| Capital Structure | Updated | Updated data and examples |
| Analysis of Dividends and Share Repurchases | Updated | Updated data and examples |
| Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Considerations in Investment Analysis | Major Revision | Added ESG examples and content |
| Mergers and Acquisitions | Major Revision | Updated data and examples Dropped coverage of Herfindahl–Hirschman Index Dropped coverage of equity valuation methods covered in equity domain (DCF, comparable company, comparable transaction) |
| Capital Budgeting | Major Revision | Dropped coverage of individual project analysis reflecting a corporate insider's perspective |
| Reading | Change | Summary of Changes |
|---|---|---|
| Equity Valuation: Applications and Processes | Updated | |
| Return Concepts | Updated | |
| Industry and Company Analysis | Updated | |
| Discounted Dividend Valuation | Updated | |
| Free Cash Flow Valuation | Updated | |
| Market-Based Valuation: Price and Enterprise Value Multiples | Updated | |
| Residual Income Valuation | Updated | |
| Private Company Valuation | Updated |
| Reading | Change | Summary of Changes |
|---|---|---|
| The Term Structure and Interest Rate Dynamics | Revision | Data revised and updated Examples and notations made consistent |
| The Arbitrage-Free Valuation Framework | Revision | Data revised and updated Examples and notations made consistent |
| Valuation and Analysis of Bonds with Embedded Options | Revision | Data revised and updated Examples and notations made consistent |
| Credit Analysis Models | Revision | Data revised and updated Examples and notations made consistent |
| Credit Default Swaps | Revision | Data revised and updated Examples and notations made consistent |
| Reading | Change | Summary of Changes |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing and Valuation of Forward Commitments | Major Revision | Added new visuals, added clarity in exposition, streamlined notations |
| Valuation of Contingent Claims | No Changes |
| Reading | Change | Summary of Changes |
|---|---|---|
| Real Estate Investments | Major Revision | Combined Private and Public Real Estate readings Streamlined content |
| Publicly Traded Real Estate Securities | Dropped | Combined with Real Estate Investments reading |
| Private Equity Investments | Revision | New content on valuation (VC method) replaces previous external content at end of reading |
| Introduction to Commodities and Commodity Derivatives | Revision | Revised and streamlined for clarity |
| Reading | Change | Summary of Changes |
|---|---|---|
| Exchange Traded Funds: Mechanics and Applications | Revision | |
| Using Multifactor Models | Revision | Added material that supports fixed income factor models and Backtesting & Simulation reading |
| Measuring and Managing Market Risk | Updated | |
| Backtesting & Simulation | New | Introduces rolling-window back testing and historical/Monte Carlo simulation of multifactor portfolios |
| Economics and Investment Markets | Updated | |
| Analysis of Active Portfolio Management | Updated | |
| Trading Costs and Electronic Markets | No Changes |
| Reading | Change | Summary of Changes |
|---|---|---|
| Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct | No Changes | |
| Guidance for Standards I–VII | No Changes | |
| Application of the Code and Standards: Level II | Revision | Added three new cases: Banco Libertad, SIC, Serengeti |
See all readings and exam topics in the Level II Study Sessions