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CFA
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CFA® Level I
The CFA Level I course teaches foundational investment concepts, covering ethics, quantitative methods, economics, financial statement analysis, and corporate issuers, preparing learners for the 180‑question exam and essential finance careers.
Who Should Take This
Aspiring analysts, junior portfolio managers, and recent finance graduates who have limited professional experience yet aim to build a solid investment foundation should enroll. They seek to master core tools, pass the CFA Level I exam, and position themselves for advanced certifications and entry‑level roles.
What's Included in AccelaStudy® AI
Adaptive Knowledge Graph
Practice Questions
Lesson Modules
Console Simulator Labs
Exam Tips & Strategy
20 Activity Formats
Course Outline
65 learning goals
1
Ethical and Professional Standards
1 topic
Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice
- Describe the CFA Institute Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct and explain the purpose of each of the seven standards
- Apply Standard I (Professionalism) to scenarios involving knowledge of the law, independence and objectivity, misrepresentation, and misconduct
- Apply Standard II (Integrity of Capital Markets) to scenarios involving material nonpublic information and market manipulation
- Apply Standard III (Duties to Clients) to scenarios involving loyalty, fair dealing, suitability, performance presentation, and confidentiality
- Apply Standard IV (Duties to Employers) to scenarios involving loyalty, additional compensation, and supervisory responsibilities
- Apply Standard V (Investment Analysis) to scenarios involving diligence, reasonable basis, communication with clients, and record retention
- Apply Standard VI (Conflicts of Interest) to scenarios involving disclosure, priority of transactions, and referral fees
- Apply Standard VII (Responsibilities as a CFA Member) to scenarios involving conduct and referencing the CFA designation
- Describe the Global Investment Performance Standards (GIPS) framework and identify its key requirements for investment performance reporting
- Analyze complex ethical scenarios involving multiple standards and recommend the most appropriate course of action with justification
2
Quantitative Methods
1 topic
Time Value of Money, Statistics, and Probability
- Apply time value of money concepts to calculate present value, future value, and annuity payments for single and multiple cash flow streams
- Describe statistical concepts including measures of central tendency, dispersion, skewness, and kurtosis for investment analysis
- Apply probability concepts including conditional probability, Bayes formula, and probability distributions to investment decision scenarios
- Describe common probability distributions including normal, lognormal, and binomial distributions and their applications in finance
- Apply hypothesis testing procedures to evaluate investment-related hypotheses including test statistic calculation and p-value interpretation
- Describe simple and multiple linear regression and interpret regression output including coefficients, R-squared, and significance tests
3
Economics
1 topic
Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, and International Trade
- Describe the demand and supply framework and apply it to analyze market equilibrium, price controls, and market efficiency
- Describe macroeconomic concepts including GDP, aggregate demand and supply, fiscal policy, and monetary policy and their effects on economic activity
- Explain the business cycle phases and describe how monetary and fiscal policy tools are used to manage economic fluctuations
- Describe international trade concepts including comparative advantage, trade restrictions, balance of payments, and exchange rate determination
- Apply exchange rate concepts to calculate forward rates, cross rates, and analyze the impact of currency movements on international investment returns
- Analyze the impact of monetary and fiscal policy changes on interest rates, inflation, exchange rates, and investment markets
4
Financial Statement Analysis
1 topic
Financial Reporting and Analysis
- Describe the principal financial statements (income statement, balance sheet, cash flow statement, statement of changes in equity) and their interrelationships
- Apply revenue recognition principles under IFRS and US GAAP and explain the impact of different recognition methods on financial statement presentation
- Analyze income statements including operating versus non-operating income, recurring versus non-recurring items, and earnings quality indicators
- Apply balance sheet analysis techniques to evaluate assets, liabilities, and equity including the impact of accounting method choices on reported values
- Describe the cash flow statement classifications (operating, investing, financing) and convert between direct and indirect method presentations
- Calculate and interpret financial ratios including liquidity, solvency, profitability, and activity ratios for company performance assessment
- Analyze the effects of different inventory valuation methods (FIFO, LIFO, weighted average) on financial statements and financial ratios
- Describe the accounting treatment of long-lived assets including depreciation methods, impairment testing, and capitalization versus expensing decisions
- Analyze the impact of lease classification (operating versus finance) and income tax accounting on financial statements and key financial ratios
5
Corporate Issuers
1 topic
Corporate Governance, Capital Budgeting, and Finance
- Describe corporate governance frameworks including board structure, stakeholder management, and mechanisms to mitigate agency conflicts
- Apply capital budgeting techniques including NPV, IRR, and payback period to evaluate corporate investment decisions
- Describe the cost of capital including WACC calculation, component costs of equity and debt, and factors affecting the cost of capital
- Describe capital structure theories including Modigliani-Miller propositions, trade-off theory, and pecking order theory and their practical implications
- Analyze working capital management decisions including cash conversion cycle optimization and short-term financing alternatives
6
Equity Investments
1 topic
Equity Markets, Valuation, and Analysis
- Describe equity market structures including order types, market participants, trading mechanisms, and market efficiency concepts
- Describe the forms of market efficiency (weak, semi-strong, strong) and evaluate the implications for investment analysis and portfolio management
- Apply equity valuation models including dividend discount models (DDM), free cash flow models, and price multiples to estimate intrinsic value
- Describe industry and competitive analysis frameworks and apply them to evaluate a company's competitive position and growth prospects
- Calculate and interpret price-to-earnings, price-to-book, price-to-sales, and enterprise value multiples for relative equity valuation
- Analyze the impact of share repurchases, stock splits, and dilutive securities on equity valuation and per-share metrics
7
Fixed Income
1 topic
Bond Markets, Valuation, and Risk
- Describe fixed income securities including bond features, issuance, trading, and the roles of bond market participants
- Apply bond pricing and yield calculation techniques including yield to maturity, current yield, and spot rate analysis for fixed-rate and floating-rate bonds
- Describe the term structure of interest rates including theories of the yield curve shape and the relationship between spot rates and forward rates
- Apply duration and convexity concepts to measure interest rate sensitivity and estimate bond price changes for a given yield change
- Describe credit risk analysis including credit ratings, credit spreads, probability of default, and loss given default for corporate bond evaluation
- Analyze the risks associated with fixed income investments including interest rate risk, credit risk, liquidity risk, and reinvestment risk
- Describe securitized debt instruments including mortgage-backed securities, asset-backed securities, and collateralized debt obligations
8
Derivatives
1 topic
Derivative Instruments and Pricing
- Describe derivative instrument types including forwards, futures, options, and swaps and explain their basic payoff structures
- Apply forward and futures pricing concepts including cost of carry, no-arbitrage pricing, and margin requirements for futures contracts
- Describe option pricing fundamentals including intrinsic value, time value, put-call parity, and the factors affecting option premiums
- Apply option strategies including protective puts, covered calls, and basic spread strategies to manage portfolio risk
- Describe swap contracts including interest rate swaps, currency swaps, and equity swaps and explain their applications in risk management
9
Alternative Investments
1 topic
Alternative Asset Classes
- Describe alternative investment categories including private equity, real estate, hedge funds, commodities, and infrastructure investments
- Describe private equity investment types including venture capital, leveraged buyouts, and growth equity and their risk-return characteristics
- Describe real estate investment vehicles including direct ownership, REITs, and real estate funds and compare their liquidity, diversification, and tax characteristics
- Describe hedge fund strategies including long-short equity, global macro, event-driven, and relative value and their risk-return profiles
- Analyze the role of alternative investments in portfolio diversification and evaluate their unique risks including illiquidity, valuation complexity, and fee structures
10
Portfolio Management
1 topic
Portfolio Theory, CAPM, and Performance
- Describe the portfolio management process including the investment policy statement, asset allocation, portfolio construction, and performance evaluation
- Apply modern portfolio theory concepts including expected return, variance, covariance, and the efficient frontier to portfolio construction decisions
- Describe the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) including systematic and unsystematic risk, beta, and the security market line
- Apply risk and return measures including Sharpe ratio, Treynor ratio, and Jensen's alpha to evaluate portfolio performance
- Describe the investment policy statement including return objectives, risk tolerance, time horizon, liquidity needs, and legal and regulatory constraints
- Analyze the benefits and limitations of diversification and evaluate how correlation between asset classes affects portfolio risk reduction
Scope
Included Topics
- All topics in the CFA Level I exam curriculum: Ethical and Professional Standards (15-20%), Quantitative Methods (6-9%), Economics (6-9%), Financial Statement Analysis (11-14%), Corporate Issuers (6-9%), Equity Investments (11-14%), Fixed Income (11-14%), Derivatives (5-8%), Alternative Investments (7-10%), and Portfolio Management and Wealth Planning (8-12%).
- CFA Institute Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct, GIPS overview, time value of money, statistics, probability, microeconomics, macroeconomics, financial reporting analysis, corporate governance, capital budgeting, equity valuation, bond pricing and risk, derivative instruments, alternative investments, modern portfolio theory, CAPM, and performance evaluation.
Not Covered
- CFA Level II and Level III specific topics including advanced equity valuation, fixed income analytics, and portfolio management applications
- Detailed derivative pricing models (Black-Scholes, binomial tree construction)
- Advanced econometric methods and time series analysis
- Country-specific tax law and regulatory frameworks beyond general concepts
- Real-time market data, specific security analysis, and investment recommendations
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