CFA Subjects: What You Study Across the Program
One broad investment-management curriculum, deepening over three levels until it converges on portfolio management.
The CFA curriculum is broad investment management. Across its three levels it covers valuation, equity, fixed income and portfolio management, moving from tools and concepts at Level I toward application, until Level III converges on portfolio management itself. It is the breadth, more than any single subject, that distinguishes the CFA from specialist credentials.
That breadth is a deliberate design. The program is built to produce generalist investment professionals, the profile behind equity research, portfolio management, asset management and investment banking careers, rather than deep specialists in one risk type or asset class.
The Subject Areas the Program Covers
The recurring pillars of the curriculum, deepening level by level.
- check_circleInvestment management: the organising discipline the whole program serves.
- check_circleValuation: how assets are priced and analysed.
- check_circleEquity: analysing and valuing shares and equity markets.
- check_circleFixed income: bonds, rates and credit instruments.
- check_circlePortfolio management: constructing and managing portfolios, the focus of Level III.
How the Curriculum Deepens Across Levels
The same pillars recur at each level, but the question format forces different depths. At Level I, multiple-choice questions test the concepts and tools one at a time. At Level II, item sets demand analysis: applying valuation and fixed-income machinery inside realistic cases. At Level III, essays and item sets test whether you can assemble everything into portfolio decisions and defend them. Reading the curriculum without noticing this progression is how candidates prepare for the wrong exam.
The subjects above start from markets fundamentals.
Topic Weights: Go to the Source
CFA Institute publishes the detailed topic areas and their exam weights for each cycle, and revises them between cycles. We don't republish weights we can't verify. Before building a study plan around any percentage breakdown you find online, check it against the current curriculum at cfainstitute.org.
FAQs
What subjects does the CFA program cover?expand_more
The CFA curriculum covers broad investment management: valuation, equity, fixed income and portfolio management, with Level III focused on portfolio management. CFA Institute publishes the detailed topic list and weights for each exam cycle.
Is the CFA syllabus the same for all three levels?expand_more
The subject pillars recur, but depth and emphasis change: Level I tests concepts via MCQs, Level II tests application via item sets, and Level III tests portfolio-level judgment with essays alongside item sets.
Where do I find the official CFA topic weights?expand_more
From CFA Institute at cfainstitute.org. Weights are set per cycle and revised between cycles, so third-party breakdowns can be stale.
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