CFA® Program Level II exam

Key information about the CFA Program Level II exam, including structure, topic outlines, and exam tips.

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Analyze and evaluate

Tests how you analyze situations and provide solutions using the knowledge you have accumulated.

Multiple-choice questions

22 item sets comprised of vignettes with 88 accompanying multiple-choice questions.

Two 132 minute-sessions

Made up of 11 item sets for each session, for a total of 22 on the exam. Twenty scored, two not.

How long does it take to study for the CFA Level II exam?

The CFA® Program enables candidates to customize their preparation to match their individual needs and circumstances. Following are some numbers to consider in planning a study strategy for the CFA Level II exam.

Successful candidates report studying on average over 300 hours for each level of the CFA Exam.
About half of successful candidates passing the LIII exam passed each exam on the first attempt (i.e. sat a total of three exams) while about a quarter sat a total of four exams.

Level II curriculum topics and weights

The curriculum is organized into topics, and each topic contains learning modules. There are learning outcome statements at the beginning of each learning module. Below you'll find current outlines.

Topic weights

Topic	Exam weight
Quantitative Methods	5–10%
Economics	5–10%
Financial Reporting and Analysis	10–15%
Corporate Issuers	5–10%
Equity Valuation	10–15%
Fixed Income	10–15%
Derivatives	5–10%
Alternative Investments	5–10%
Portfolio Management	10–15%
Ethical and Professional Standards	10–15%

2024 Level II Topic Outlines combined

2025 Level II Topic Outlines combined

Core curriculum topics

Alternative Investments

This topic defines and explores alternative investments, including hedge funds, private equity, real estate, commodities, and infrastructure. You’ll learn about the characteristics they have in common and the use of alternative investments for diversification and higher returns.

Corporate Issuers

In this topic, you’ll be introduced to corporate governance as well as investing and financing decisions. Gain an overview of corporate governance along with a framework for understanding and analyzing corporate governance and stakeholder management. This topic also highlights the growing impact of environmental and social considerations in investing. We cover how companies make use of leverage and manage their working capital to meet short-term operational needs.

Derivatives

In this part of the curriculum, you’ll build the conceptual framework for understanding the basic derivatives and derivative markets. You’ll then be introduced to essential features and valuation concepts for forward commitments such as forwards, futures, swaps, and contingent claims. Finally, you’ll look at arbitrage, a critical concept that links derivative pricing to the price of the underlying asset.

Economics

Learn about the analysis of fundamental concepts of supply and demand for individual consumers and firms. This topic also covers the various market structures that firms operate in as well as macroeconomic concepts and principles, including aggregate output and income measurement, aggregate demand and supply analysis, and analysis of economic growth factors. This section of the curriculum concludes with coverage of the business cycle and its effect on economic activity.

Equity Investments

Here, you’ll explore the characteristics of equity investments, security markets, and indexes and explain how to analyze industries, companies, and equity securities. You’ll also learn about the use of basic equity valuation models and global equities, which are important for meeting longer-term growth and diversification objectives.

Ethical and Professional Standards

The focus of this topic is ethics, related challenges to ethical behavior, and the role ethics and professionalism play in the investment industry. We’ll provide you with a framework to support ethical decision-making and examine CFA Institute Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct and Global Investment Performance Standards (GIPS®).

Financial Statement Analysis

Receive a thorough explanation of financial reporting procedures and the standards that govern financial reporting disclosures, with an emphasis on basic financial statements and how alternative accounting methods affect those statements and the analysis of them. You’ll also examine primary financial statements and be provided with a general framework for conducting financial statement analysis.

Fixed Income

In this topic, you’ll learn how to describe fixed income securities and their markets, yield measures, risk factors, and valuation measurements and drivers. We’ll also cover calculating yields, values of fixed income securities, the securitization of assets, the fundamentals of bond returns and risks, and basic principles of credit analysis.

Quantitative Methods

In this topic, you’ll explore quantitative concepts and techniques used in financial analysis and investment decision-making. We present descriptive statistics for conveying important data attributes, such as central tendency, location, and dispersion, and introduce characteristics of return distributions. This part of the curriculum also considers probability theory and its application in quantifying risk for investment decision-making.

Portfolio Management and Wealth Planning

In this topic, we explain the fundamentals of portfolio and risk management, including return and risk measurement and portfolio planning and construction. We examine the needs of individual and institutional investors along with the range of available investment solutions. The capital asset pricing model is used to identify optimal risk in portfolios.

Curriculum errata

Find the latest updates and corrections to the curriculum. You can also submit suspected errors for review to ensure the most accurate and up-to-date content.

See curriculum errata

Level II exam format

The CFA Level II exam consists of multiple-choice questions. Familiarizing yourself with the format will help you approach the exam efficiently, manage your time effectively, and avoid common pitfalls to maximize your performance.

Exam structure

The CFA Level II exam consists of 22 item sets comprised of vignettes with 88 accompanying multiple-choice questions.

Exam duration

The Level II exam will be 4 hours and 24 minutes, split into two equal sessions of 2 hours and 12 minutes, with an optional break in-between.

Question format

The CFA Level II exam is standardized with 11 item sets for each session, for a total of 22 on the exam. Twenty are scored, and two are questions we're trialing that will not be scored.

Multiple-choice questions in each item set must be answered based on the information in the vignette. Hence, the items are not free-standing, as in the CFA Level I exam. You'll need to refer to the vignette before answering each item.

The CFA® Program curriculum topic areas for Level II will be randomly placed on the exam. All topics may be covered in either the first and second sessions, or possibly both sessions. Each item set vignette will begin with a statement of the topic and total point value. For example:

TOPIC: QUANTITATIVE METHODS
TOTAL POINT VALUE OF THIS QUESTION SET IS 12 POINTS

Examples of level II exam questions (PDF)

Level II exam tips

Here are some practical tips to help you perform your best on the CFA Level II exam.

Financial Statement Analysis: Questions on this topic are based on International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), unless otherwise noted. If a question references U.S. GAAP, this will be explicitly stated.
No penalty for guessing: There is no penalty for incorrect answers, so be sure to answer every question.
Know your calculator: Ensure you’re comfortable with the calculator features needed to address the Learning Outcome Statements (LOS). Familiarity with your calculator will save valuable time during the exam.
Dress for comfort: There’s no official dress code, but dressing in layers will allow you to adjust to the room temperature and remain comfortable during the exam.
Exam hardware and software: Make sure you’re aware of how hardware and software at test centers might affect your experience.
Practice, practice, practice: Take a mock exam in the Learning Ecosystem to practice answering exam questions.
Proctor assistance: During the normal course of the exam, candidates may find they need assistance from proctors. Proctors will come to workstations as quickly as possible to assist. If able, we encourage candidates to continue working on their exam until a proctor has assisted. Our exam writers have designed the exam to account for minor disruptions or pauses in order for candidates to still have adequate time to respond to all questions.

Practical Skills Modules (PSM) requirement

In addition to completing the exam, you must complete one PSM at each level in order to receive your exam result. The same module cannot be completed at multiple levels. For example, if you complete the Python Programming Fundamentals module at Level I, you must complete a different module (Python, Data Science & AI or Analyst Skills) to meet the PSM requirement at Level II. Learn more about PSM's and see the PSM Policy for more details.

How practice analysis keeps the CFA exam relevant

The CFA Program curriculum and exams are shaped by our practice analysis process, which gathers insights from top industry professionals to ensure that the content reflects current investment practices. This process directly influences the Candidate Body of Knowledge (CBOK), which outlines the essential competencies for success in the investment profession.

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