CFA Level 1 2025 Curriculum: All 10 Topics Explained

Getting ready for Level I means mastering a broad foundation of finance concepts and learning how to apply them to real-world scenarios. Below you’ll find a clear, practical overview of all ten topics—what each covers, why it matters, and how to study it efficiently. A quick-reference table comes first, then concise deep dives you can use to guide your study plan.

Topic	What It Builds	Typical Emphasis	Practice Priorities
Ethics & Professional Standards	Judgment, conduct, disclosure	High	Standard vs. recommendation, conflict scenarios
Quantitative Methods	Math toolkit for valuation & risk	Medium	TVM, statistics, sampling, regression basics
Economics	Macro/micro & market forces	Medium	Supply/demand shifts, FX, growth models
Financial Statement Analysis (FSA)	Accounting fluency	High	Ratios, cash vs. accrual, inventory/PP&E, taxes
Corporate Issuers	Firm decisions & capital structure	Medium	Cost of capital, capital budgeting, payout policy
Equity Investments	Equity markets & valuation	Medium–High	DDM/FCF intuition, industry analysis
Fixed Income	Bonds, term structure, risk	Medium–High	Yield measures, duration/convexity, credit risk
Derivatives	Forwards, futures, options, swaps	Medium–Low	Payoffs, no-arbitrage, basic hedging
Alternative Investments	Real assets, PE, hedge funds	Low–Medium	Return drivers, fees, comparability
Portfolio Management & Wealth Planning	Risk/return & diversification	Medium	CAPM basics, SML vs. CML, IPS elements

Note: Topic weights can vary by exam cycle; always prioritize Ethics and FSA and keep steady practice across Equity and Fixed Income.

1) Ethics & Professional Standards CFA Level 1 2025 Curriculum

What it is: The Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct, plus the GIPS standards. CFA Level 1 2025 Curriculum

Why it matters: Ethics can be a decisive section and frames how you answer judgment-based questions across the exam.

How to study: Learn the intent behind each standard (duty of loyalty, material nonpublic info, suitability). Drill vignette-style items: identify the violation, the standard, and the corrective action. Don’t skip GIPS—know who “must” vs. “should.”

2) Quantitative Methods

What it is: Time value of money (TVM), discounted cash flow, probability, descriptive/inferential statistics, sampling, hypothesis testing, correlation/regression.

Why it matters: It’s the math backbone for valuation and risk.

How to study: Get fluent with calculator keystrokes for N, I/Y, PV, PMT, FV. Practice setting up hypotheses, interpreting p-values and confidence intervals, and knowing when correlation does not imply causation. Keep regression interpretation conceptual (slope meaning, R² limits, assumptions).

3) Economics

What it is: Micro (elasticities, market structures), macro (growth, unemployment, inflation), monetary/fiscal policy, international trade and FX.

Why it matters: Economics explains the environment in which securities are priced.

How to study: Link policy moves to yield curves and currency moves. For FX, be very clear about price vs. quantity quotes and which currency is base/price. Practice small story problems (e.g., “central bank tightens → what happens to growth, inflation, and the curve?”).

4) Financial Statement Analysis (FSA)

What it is: IFRS/US GAAP basics, income statement, balance sheet, cash flows, revenue recognition, long-lived assets, inventories, taxes, leases, intercorporate investments, ratio analysis.

Why it matters: Many questions hinge on your ability to reconcile accounting choices with economic reality.

How to study:

Inventories: FIFO vs. LIFO impacts on COGS, margins, and taxes.
PP&E: Capitalization vs. expensing; depreciation methods.
Leases: Balance-sheet effects under current standards.
Taxes: Deferred tax assets/liabilities and valuation allowances.Memorize core ratios by formula and intuition (profitability, liquidity, solvency) and practice converting between cash and accrual views.

5) Corporate Issuers

What it is: Capital budgeting, cost of capital (WACC, CAPM), capital structure, working capital, dividend and buyback policy, corporate governance.

Why it matters: Connects firm decisions to value creation and risk.

How to study: Be fast with NPV/IRR and recognize pitfalls (non-conventional cash flows, mutually exclusive projects). Know how changes in leverage affect EPS risk and WACC, and how payout choices signal information. Governance questions test principles, not memorization.

6) Equity Investments

What it is: Market organization, indices, industry and company analysis, equity valuation models (dividend discount, free cash flow, multiples).

Why it matters: Equities are core to many portfolios and a frequent exam focus.

How to study: Understand the logic of DDM/FCF (growth, reinvestment, discount rate). For multiples, focus on drivers (e.g., P/E rises with higher growth, lower risk, higher payout). Recognize index construction biases (price-weighted vs. value-weighted) and implications.

7) Fixed Income

What it is: Bond features, pricing, yield measures, term structure, interest-rate risk (duration/convexity), credit risk, securitization basics.

Why it matters: Rate moves and credit cycles drive portfolio outcomes.

How to study: Be able to move between price, yield, and spread. Memorize duration intuition (“price falls when yields rise; longer duration = more sensitive”). Understand what convexity adds. For credit, separate default risk from spread risk, and know the anatomy of a MBS/tranche.

8) Derivatives

What it is: Forwards/futures, options (calls/puts), swaps; no-arbitrage pricing concepts and basic hedges.

Why it matters: Small section, big conceptual precision.

How to study: Draw payoff diagrams from memory and compute simple payoffs at expiration. Know put-call parity and how to use futures to adjust beta or duration. Keep valuation intuition front-and-center (carry costs/benefits, rates, dividends).

9) Alternative Investments

What it is: Real estate, commodities, private equity, hedge funds, infrastructure.

Why it matters: Diversification and illiquidity premia are central to modern portfolios.

How to study: Focus on return drivers (e.g., roll yield for commodities, NOI/cap rates for real estate), fee structures, appraisal smoothing, and comparability issues vs. public markets.

10) Portfolio Management & Wealth Planning

What it is: Risk/return trade-off, diversification, CAPM basics, the efficient frontier, investor constraints and objectives, performance concepts.

Why it matters: Ties all other topics together into coherent strategy.

How to study: Distinguish CML vs. SML, systematic vs. idiosyncratic risk, and the role of the risk-free asset. Be able to read an Investment Policy Statement (IPS) and spot constraint conflicts (liquidity, time horizon, legal, unique circumstances).

How to Put It All Together

Start with Ethics and FSA, then layer Quant, Equity, and Fixed Income.
Spiral learning: Revisit earlier topics with mixed-topic question sets to build retention.
Calculator mastery: Lock in TVM and bond keystrokes early.
Active recall > passive reading: Aim for lots of short, timed practice blocks.
Link concepts: For example, use Quant to interpret Equity regressions, or Economics to reason about yield curves in Fixed Income.

If you keep the big picture in view—value, risk, cash flows, and incentives—the details become easier to organize and recall on exam day.

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