CFA Level 3

CFA Level 3 Topic Weights (vs. Previous Year)

Topics / Weight	2018	2019	2020	2021
Ethics	10-15%	10-15%	10-15%	10-15%
Quant Methods	–	–	–	–
Economics	5-10%	5-10%	5-10%	5-10%
FRA	–	–	–	–
Corp Fin	–	–	–	–
Equity	5-15%	10-15%	10-15%	10-15%
Fixed Income	10-20%	15-20%	15-20%	15-20%
Derivatives	5-15%	5-10%	5-10%	5-10%
Alt. Investments	5-15%	5-10%	5-10%	5-10%
Portfolio Mgmt.	40-55%	35-40%	35-40%	35-40%

In short, there is a much smaller revamp on the Level 3 curriculum this year (compared to last year).

There are 35 readings in 2022’s Level 3 Curriculum (vs. 38 in 2020/2021):

5 readings from 2020/2021 were removed:
- Reading 4: Professionalism in Investment Management
- Reading 7: The Behavioral Finance Perspective
- Reading 29: Taxes and Private Wealth Management in a Global Context
- Reading 30: Estate Planning in a Global Context
- Reading 31: Concentrated Single-Asset Positions

2 new readings were added:
- Reading 22: Topics in Private Wealth Management
- Reading 30: Case Study in Risk Management: Institutional

7 readings were updated, mostly major content revisions in Fixed Income and further simplification of GIPS (Ethics).

(source: 300 hours)

Topics / Weight	2018	2019	2020	2021
Ethics	10-15%	10-15%	10-15%	10-15%
Quant Methods	5-10%	5-10%	5-10%	5-10%
Economics	5-10%	5-10%	5-10%	5-10%
FRA	15-20%	10-15%	10-15%	10-15%
Corp Fin	5-15%	5-10%	5-10%	5-10%
Equity	15-25%	10-15%	10-15%	10-15%
Fixed Income	10-20%	10-15%	10-15%	10-15%
Derivatives	5-15%	5-10%	5-10%	5-10%
Alt. Investments	5-10%	5-10%	5-10%	5-10%
Portfolio Mgmt.	5-10%	5-15%	5-15%	10-15%

In short, Level 2’s curriculum experienced a relatively small update this year.

There are 47 readings in 2022’s Level 2 Curriculum (vs. 48 in 2020/2021):

3 readings from 2020/2021 were removed:
- Reading 9 – Excerpt from Probabilistic Approaches
- Reading 22 – Corporate Governance & Other ESG Considerations in Investment Analysis
- Reading 40 – Publicly Traded Real Estate Securities

2 new readings were added:
- Reading 17 – Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Considerations in Investment Analysis
- Reading 41 – Backtesting and Simulation

13 readings were updated, mostly minor changes, except R33 Pricing & Valuation of Forward Commitments (Derivatives) and R35 Real Estate Investments – the latter due to merging of 2 readings into one.

(source: 300 hours)

2022 CFA Curriculum Changes: Our Super Summary 2

Topics / Weight	2018	2019	2020	2021
Ethics	15%	15%	15%	15-20%
Quant Methods	12%	10%	10%	8-12%
Economics	10%	10%	10%	8-12%
FRA	20%	15%	15%	13-17%
Corp Fin	7%	10%	10%	8-12%
Equity	10%	11%	11%	10-12%
Fixed Income	10%	11%	11%	10-12%
Derivatives	5%	6%	6%	5-8%
Alt. Investments	4%	6%	6%	5-8%
Portfolio Mgmt.	7%	6%	6%	5-8%

In short, there has been lots of small updates throughout the Level 1 curriculum, but nothing major overall.

There are 60 readings in 2022’s Level 1 Curriculum (vs. 57 in 2020/2021):

5 readings from 2020/2021 were removed:
- Reading 5 – Global Investment Performance Standards
- Reading 7 – Statistical Concepts & Market Returns
- Reading 32 – Capital Budgeting
- Reading 33 – Cost of Capital
- Reading 35 – Working Capital Management

8 new readings were added (mostly in Quant Methods and Corporate Issuers):
- Reading 2 – Organizing, Visualizing, and Describing Data
- Reading 7 – Introduction to Linear Regression
- Reading 28 – Uses of Capital
- Reading 29 – Sources of Capital
- Reading 30 – Cost of Capital – Foundational Topics
- Reading 31 – Capital Structure
- Reading 52 – The Behavioral Biases of Individuals
- Reading 60 – Ethics Application

15 readings were updated: mostly minor changes, except Alternative Investments.

(source: 300 hours)