CFA Exam: study notes, practice questions and mock exams: About CFA?

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What is the CFA® Program?
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The CFA® charter was first awarded in 1963 and since then the Program has become the benchmark of
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excellence in the investment industry worldwide. The Program has now grown to more than 170,000
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candidates (with over 160 nationalities) being registered for the exam each year. The number of CFA®

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charterholders has increased to around 80,000 now.

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In three successive exams you will be assessed on a wide range of subjects including ethics,

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quantitative techniques, economics, financial statement analysis, corporate finance, equity, debt,
derivatives, alternative investments and portfolio management. The knowledge you gain while studying
will be invaluable to your future career and the CFA® charter has become universally recognised by

employers and investors as a mark of excellence and integrity within their profession.
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What are the entry requirements?

In order to enrol on the Program you need to have either:

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● a US bachelor’s degree (or equivalent) OR
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● four years of professional work experience OR
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exams because it helped to pull everything ● a combination of the two that totals four years.
together.

It is possible to enrol for Level 1 if you are in your final year of a degree course, though you will need to
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have received the degree before enrolling for Level 2. As well as the academic or work experience you

must sign a statement of professional conduct and pay the exam fees to CFA Institute.

What are the fees?

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CFA Exam: study notes, practice questions and mock exams: About CFA?

For June 2011 Level 1 CFA® Exam:

Payment Deadlines: 16 February 2011 16 March 2011

Program Enrollment Fee* $405 $490

Exam Registration Fee $720 $970

Total Cost $1125 $1460

*The Program Enrollment fee applies only to first time Level 1 candidates. Candidates for Levels 2 and 3

or candidates resitting Level 1 should pay just the Exam Registration fee.

What are the requirements to become a CFA® charterholder?

In order to receive your CFA® charter you must have achieved the following:

● You must pass all three levels of the CFA® exam.

● You need to have 48 months of relevant work experience.

● You must become a regular member of CFA Institute.

The work experience can be gained before, during or after studying for the exams. This experience can

be in a wide range of activities, including financial, economic or statistical analysis as part of the

investment decision-making process, supervising staff who are performing these activities or teaching

the skills involved. At least 50 percent of your time must be spent in these activities and part-time roles

are excluded. Job titles themselves are less important than the nature of the activity when assessing

work experience. See here for more details, including a list of sample job titles.

What is the structure of the CFA® exams?

For level 1 and 2, there are two three-hour exams, one in the morning and the other in the afternoon.

Each topic is tested in both the morning and afternoon exam. Each exam consists of 120 questions for a

total of 240 questions. You have on average one and a half minutes to answer each question. Each

question counts for 1.5 points for a total of 180 points for each exam.

The CFA® exam is a compensating exam. This means that you can perform well in topics that

you are strong while performing poorly in topics that you are weak in and still pass the exam. For

example: You may perform well in the Financial Statement Analysis section and poorly in the Economics

section and still pass. It is not mandatory to pass every section in the exam in order to pass the exam.

However performance in the Ethics section may be a deciding factor if you are a borderline student in

the exam (1 to 2 marks short of a pass). There are core topics that have questions every year in the

exam. There are other topics that have questions periodically.

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CFA Exam: study notes, practice questions and mock exams: About CFA?

The Level 2 and 3 exams are offered once a year (at the end of May or the beginning of June).

What score do I need to pass the exam?

This is a difficult question to answer. First, CFA Institute does not tell you your exam score. They give

you feedback on your performance in the different body of knowledge areas. The feedback is in the form

of where you scored greater than 70%, less than 50%, or between 50% and 70% in each of the body of

knowledge areas. Second, CFA Institute does not give a total score for the exam nor do they disclose

what the required score for passing is.

The pass rates have varied over time. According to CFA Institute's web site, the pass rates for the past

seven years are:

Year Level 1 (June/Dec) Level 2 Level 3

2004 34%/36% 32% 64%

2005 36%/34% 56% 55%

2006 40%/39% 48% 76%

2007 40%/39% 40% 50%

2008 35%/35% 46% 53%

2009 46%/34% 41% 49%

2010 42%/ N/A 39% 46%

How quickly can I get through the Program?

The Level 1 exam is conducted twice a year, in June and December, while Levels 2 and 3 are just once

a year in June.

Hence for candidates sitting Level 1 in June of a particular year, the fastest route would be Level 2 in

June the following year and Level 3 the June after that.

For candidates sitting Level 1 in December, the results will be known in time to register for Level 2 the

following June, with Level 3 a year later.

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