CFA® Program Study Sessions
Study Session Outlines
The curriculum is organized into study sessions and each study session contains readings. There are learning outcome statements at the beginning of each reading.
Below you'll find current study session outlines by level. Each study session includes learning outcome statements (LOS) and source references for the readings.
2020 Level I Study Sessions
| Topic | Exam Weight | Sessions | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ethical and Professional Standards | 15-20% | Study Session 1 Readings 1-5 |
|
| Quantitative Methods | 8-12% | Study Session 2 Study Session 3 |
|
| Economics | 8-12% | Study Session 4 Study Session 5 |
|
| Financial Reporting and Analysis | 13-17% | Study Session 6 Study Session 7 Study Session 8 Study Session 9 |
|
| Corporate Finance | 8-12% | Study Session 10 Study Session 11 |
|
| Equity Investments | 10-12% | Study Session 12 Study Session 13 |
|
| Fixed Income | 10-12% | Study Session 14 Study Session 15 |
|
| Derivatives | 5-8% | Study Session 16 | |
| Alternative Investments | 5-8% | Study Session 17 | |
| Portfolio Management | 5-8% | Study Session 18 Study Session 19 |
2020 Level II Study Sessions
| Topic | Exam Weight | Sessions | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ethical and Professional Standards | 10–15% | Study Session 1 Readings 1-3 |
|
| Quantitative Methods | 5–10% | ||
| Economics | 5–10% | Study Session 4 | |
| Financial Reporting and Analysis | 10–15% | Study Session 5 Study Session 6 |
|
| Corporate Finance | 5–10% | Study Session 7 Study Session 8 |
|
| Equity Valuation | 10–15% | Study Session 9 Study Session 10 Study Session 11 |
|
| Fixed Income | 10–15% | Study Session 12 Study Session 13 |
|
| Derivatives | 5–10% | Study Session 14 | |
| Alternative Investments |
5–10% | Study Session 15 | |
| Portfolio Management | 10–15% | Study Session 16 Study Session 17 |
2020 Level III Study Sessions
| Topic | Exam Weight | Sessions | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ethical and Professional Standards | 10–15% | Study Session 1 Readings 1-3 Study Session 2 |
|
| Economics | 5–10% | Study Session 4 | |
| Equity Investments | 10–15% | Study Session 9 Study Session 10 |
|
| Fixed Income | 15–20% | Study Session 7 Study Session 8 |
|
| Derivatives | 5–10% | Study Session 6 | |
| Alternative Investments | 5–10% | Study Session 11 |
|
| Portfolio Management | 35–40% | Study Session 3 Study Session 5 Study Session 12 Study Session 13 Study Session 14 Study Session 15 Study Session 16 |
2022 Level I Study Sessions
| Topic | Exam Weight | Sessions | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quantitative Methods | 8-12% | Study Session 1 Study Session 2 |
|
| Economics | 8-12% | Study Session 3 Study Session 4 |
|
| Financial Reporting and Analysis | 13-17% | Study Session 5 Study Session 6 Study Session 7 Study Session 8 |
|
| Corporate Issuers |
8-12% | Study Session 9 Study Session 10 |
|
| Equity Investments | 10-12% | Study Session 11 Study Session 12 |
|
| Fixed Income | 10-12% | Study Session 13 Study Session 14 |
|
| Derivatives | 5-8% | Study Session 15 |
|
| Alternative Investments | 5-8% | Study Session 16 |
|
| Portfolio Management | 5-8% | Study Session 17 Study Session 18 |
|
| Ethical and Professional Standards | 15-20% | Study Session 19 Readings 56-60 |
2022 Level II Study Sessions
| Topic | Exam Weight | Sessions | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quantitative Methods | 5–10% |
|
|
| Economics | 5–10% | Study Session 3 |
|
| Financial Reporting and Analysis | 10–15% | Study Session 4 Study Session 5 |
|
| Corporate Issuers |
5–10% | Study Session 6 Study Session 7 |
|
| Equity Valuation | 10–15% | Study Session 8 Study Session 9 Study Session 10 |
|
| Fixed Income | 10–15% | Study Session 11 Study Session 12 |
|
| Derivatives | 5–10% | Study Session 13 |
|
| Alternative Investments |
5–10% | Study Session 14 |
|
| Portfolio Management | 10–15% | Study Session 15 Study Session 16 |
|
| Ethical and Professional Standards | 10–15% | Study Session 17 Readings 45-47 |
2022 Level III Study Sessions
| Topic | Exam Weight | Sessions | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Economics | 5–10% | Study Session 2 |
|
| Derivatives | 5–10% | Study Session 4 | |
| Fixed Income | 15–20% | Study Session 5 Study Session 6 |
|
| Equity Investments | 10–15% | Study Session 7 Study Session 8 |
|
| Alternative Investments | 5–10% | Study Session 9 | |
| Portfolio Management | 35–40% | Study Session 1 Study Session 3 Study Session 10 Study Session 11 Study Session 12 Study Session 13 Study Session 14 |
|
| Ethical and Professional Standards | 10–15% | Study Session 15 Study Session 16 Readings 31-33 |