CFA level 1 Course Details, Study Material and Training Best Value
This CFA Level 1 Training course (70+ hours of video tutorials) provides you with an excellent opportunity to equip exceptionally well for the CFA exam and pass the exam in your first attempt.
- About CFA Level 1 Program
- About CFA Level 1 Prep Course
- CFA Level 1 Exam Pass Rates
- CFA Level 1 Sample Questions
- Pre-requisites to this CFA Level 1 Training?
- Target Audience for this training
- Who can go for this course?
- Who should not go for this course?
- FAQs – General Questions
- Career Benefits of this training
- Course Testimonials
About CFA level 1 Program
| Roles | Portfolio Management, Wealth Management, Investment decision making, Investment Analysis |
| Exam | The CFA® Program consists of a series of three examinations (Levels I, II, and III). |
| CFA® Exam Dates | CFA® Level 1 – conducted twice in a year (1st week of December & 1st week of June); CFA® Level 2 & 3 conducted once a year (1st Week of June) |
| The Deal | Each of the CFA® program’s three levels builds on the preceding one, and each concludes with a full-day six-hour examination. Candidates must pass each examination before advancing to the next higher level, but are permitted to repeat an examination if they fail to pass. |
| Eligibility | You must have one of the following: Bachelor’s (or equivalent) degree Be in the final year of bachelor’s degree program Have four years professional work experience Have a combination of professional work and university experience that totals at least four years |
| Program Completion Criteria | Successfully pass the three exams; Have four years professional work experience in the investment decision-making process; Join CFA® Institute as a regular member |
| Recommended Study Hours | A minimum of 300 hours of preparation per CFA® exam level is recommended. |
| What do you earn? | CFA® Charter |
CFA Level 1 is the first step toward making your investment-career a reality. You may have heard about CFA Level 1, but may never get the time to dive in. But before going into the nitty-gritty, let’s talk a bit about why these three letter word is worth pursuing.
Now you may have an approach to treat CFA level 1 exam to clear. We urge you not to do that. Instead look at it as if you’re being shown a way to expand your knowledge base and to improve your investment-comprehension.
CFA institute has designed the program in such a way that the purpose of CFA level 1 exam is to ensure that you understand all the investment tools in terms of understanding the topics and to instill knowledge and comprehension in terms of learning focus.
About CFA Level 1 Prep Course
This CFA level 1 training course is prep course with 70+ hours of video tutorials and Lifetime Access. This online CFA Level 1 prep course is best suited for students and professionals who want to –
- Pass CFA level 1 exam through Self Study
- Complement their current CFA Classroom coaching with better video based understanding of the curriculum
- Looking for flexibility, anytime anywhere study
Let’s jump into the details of the CFA Prep Course offerings. .
| S. No | Sections | Video hrs |
| 1 | Investment Banking Fundamentals* | 2 |
| 2 | Ethics | 9 |
| 3 | Quantitative Methods | 5 |
| 4 | Economics | 8 |
| 5 | Financial Reporting and Analysis | 23 |
| 6 | Corporate Finance | 3 |
| 7 | Portfolio Management | 3 |
| 8 | Equity Investments | 6 |
| 9 | Fixed Income | 6 |
| 10 | Derivatives | 4 |
| 11 | Alternative Investments | 2 |
| 12 | CFA Calculator* | 3 |
| 13 | Ethics- Refresher course* | 3 |
| Total Hours | 77 |
Investment Banking Fundamentals
This module provides you with a glimpse of Investment Banking fundamentals. It is important to understand the key terminologies associated with Investment Banks as you may be new to many terms used within Ethics, Portfolio Management in the context of Investment Banking. Please treat this module as the foundation level module for CFA Level 1 Training.
Ethical & Professional Standards (Weight – 15%):
In this section, you will learn about Professional Standards of Practice and Ethical Practices. As we’ve mentioned earlier that one of most significant characteristics of a CFA qualified professional is his/her ethical standard while dealing with client/s. Ethics module becomes slightly tricky especially for those who are not working in the Financial Industry. Given its 15% weightage, do ensure to revise this module multiple times to get a solid grasp in Ethics.
Quantitative Methods (Weight – 12%):
Quantitative methods primarily covers business maths. You will learn Time Value of Money, Probability, Probability Distributions & Descriptive Statistics, Sampling & Estimation, Hypothesis Testing, Correlation Analysis & Regression, Time-Series Analysis, Simulation Analysis and Technical Analysis. The usability of these methods in finance world can’t be overemphasized. It’s always better to learn them as early as possible. This section offers you the opportunity.
Economics (Weight – 10%):
In Economics, you will learn macro plus micro economics in depth. From the basic supply & demand to monetary policy and business cycle, this course will get you covered.
Financial Reporting & Analysis (Weight – 20%):
Given its weightage of 20%, its obvious that you can’t ignore this section. Infact, you have to really master this as this section becomes the core in CFA Level 2 examination as well. Please note that if you come from a non-accounting background, then you will have to practice this section much more. I found this section very interesting and easy (even though i come from a non accounting background). If I can excel in this section of accounting, why can’t you?
Not only will you learn about Income Statements, Balance Sheets and Cash Flows, but also how to perform financial statement analysis etc. You will also how to Analysis of Taxes, Analysis of Debt, Ratio & Financial Analysis, Financial Reporting Quality etc.
Corporate Finance (Weight – 7%):
Doubtful about the role of a financial manager (which is a possible career prospect after qualifying CFA)? This section will teach you about fundamentals of corporate finance, corporate governance, how you would be able to make decisions regarding the capital structure of the company & mergers & acquisitions and corporate restructuring.
Portfolio Management & Wealth Planning (Weight – 7%):
Lastly you will learn about modern portfolio management concepts, behavioral finance, tax efficiency strategies, performance evaluation and presentation of performance results.
Equity Investments (Weight – 10%):
You will learn a lot about types of equity securities and their characteristics, equity markets and equity portfolio management strategies.
Fixed Income (Weight – 10%):
You will also get to know about fixed income portfolio benchmarks, analysis of interest rate risk, analysis of credit risk, fixed-income portfolio management strategies etc.
Derivatives (Weight – 5%):
Our students say that they faced problems in the past with this. But after taking the course they have successfully understood future markets, swap markets, options markets and forward markets. The course also cleared away their doubts about uses of derivatives in portfolio management.
Alternative Investments (Weight – 4%):
Many students dream of hedge fund professional. If you are one among them, pay special heed to this part of the course. You will learn about hedge fund strategies, distressed securities/bankruptcies and also about alternative investment management strategies.
CFA Calculator* –
This section is extremely important to excel in your CFA exam. This section uses Texas instrument BAII calculator provides insights and shortcuts on using this calculator to ace calculations during exam. The tutorials will help you learn Calculator Set up, Regular Usage, Quantitative Analysis, Corporate Finance, Financial Reporting, and Fixed Income.
Ethics- Refresher course* –
This section can prove very useful for last minute revision of Ethics Section. I have seen many students coudn’t pass the CFA exam as they performed very poorly in this section. Make sure to go through this section so as to excel in Ethics.
Please note that this prep course is provided by eduCBA (Global Online Training Experts) and I am one of the co-founders at eduCBA.
CFA Level I exam pass rates:
- Past 10 years saw that CFA® Level 1 examination passing rate was in the range of 34% to 44%, with an average passing rate of around 40%
- Pass rate for the December 2015 Exam was around 43%. Pass Rate of June 2015 was around 42%.
- Please see below the historic pass rates of CFA Level 1 examination
CFA level 1 Sample Questions
This prep course will equip you to answer the questions in CFA level 1 exam. Here’s the sample of two formats in which the questions are asked in CFA level 1 –
Example 1 (Sentence completion)
An analyst suspects that a particular company’s U.S. GAAP financial statements may require adjustment because the company uses take-or-pay contracts. The most likely effect of the appropriate adjustments would be to increase that company’s
- Return on assets.
- Debt-to-equity ratio.
- Interest coverage ratio.
Example 2 (Question)
An analyst suspects that a particular company’s U.S. GAAP financial statements may require adjustment because the company uses take-or-pay contracts. Which of the following is most likely to increase as a result of the appropriate adjustments being made to that company’s financial statements?
- Return on assets.
- Debt-to-equity ratio.
- Interest coverage ratio.
You need to attempt these two types of questions. And in this course, you will learn how to understand and answer these two formats of questions.
Now, let’s look at the pre-requisites for training.
What are the requirements/ pre-requisites to this Training?
To be able to do this course, there are few things which are must haves. Let’s look at them.
- Basic knowledge in Maths & English: These two things are must. Even if you don’t have much knowledge about the subject of finance, this course will teach you how. But you need to have basic idea about how to calculate basic maths and how to articulate the same in lucid English.
- Bachelor Degree or equivalent: Although, having a bachelor’s degree is not required to do this course, you need to have a bachelor’s degree or equivalent to be able to enrol yourself in CFA level 1.
- Willingness to learn at your own pace & self-motivated: What’s most important for learning this course is your willingness to complete the course and motivate yourself to pursue it with all you have. This course is easy to study, but without self-motivation and willingness to learn, no course can be easy to its students.
Target Audience for this training
CFA level 1 preparatory course is not for everyone. Yes, it’s for those who dream to create havoc in the investment world. But if you’re a little sceptical about whether you should do CFA or not, you can take this course and decide for yourself if CFA at all is your cup of tea.
Who can go for this course?
Students who have completed their graduation in commerce or any other fields and are willing to pursue their career in investment and financial domain, this course is perfect for them. You would learn the nitty-gritty of the CFA course and you would be able to prepare thoroughly for clearing CFA level 1 in the first attempt.
If you’re someone who have few years of professional experience and would like to further your career prospect, you can enroll for the same. Never feel resistant because of your age. At the end of the day, age is just a number. There’re many students who have more experience than you do and still pursuing our course to clear CFA level 1.
Who shouldn’t take the course?
This course isn’t for those who think that we will give you a medicine and you just need to take it. No. You need to put in your effort and be willing to understand each and everything about the subject matter.
FAQs – General Questions
- Would this course ease my effort in preparation?
Of course, this course would ease your preparation time. The main issue student’s face while preparing for the course is which structure they should follow to study! This course is very well structured and easy to understand. All students need to do is to go step by step to understand and master every subject.
- Why should I enrol?
Because this course guarantees your success in CFA level 1 exam. Only thing is that you need to follow the instructions and the structure of the course.
- Who designed this course?
This course is designed by professionals who have already gone through CFA course the hard way. The primary reason to create this course is not to let you go through the pain of preparation.
- Is CFA level 1 is difficult for a person who has never had any experience in finance?
Yes and no. If you go through this course step by step, it shouldn’t be hard, as our primary motto is to pare down the difficulty from CFA level 1 exam. But if you don’t follow the step by step approach, it may seem difficult to understand.
Career Benefits of this training
There are many benefits if you take this course –
- First and foremost, its a great resume bullet point! There is no denial about the global acceptability of CFA exam within the Finance Industry
- Secondly, this course will not only teach you the subjects in the CFA level 1 course; it will also teach you how to approach each question and how to think before answering it. Thus, you would become a better thinker and your investment-comprehension would increase.
- CFA level 1 is the level of inertia. Most students get stuck in level 1 in fear. Once you take up this course, you would be able to go beyond this inertia and get ahead in your career.
- Once you enrol for this course, your career prospect will seem brighter than ever. You will not only clear CFA level 1 exam, your confidence of having a career in investments will increase. You would be able to have career in many facets of financial domains like – corporate finance, portfolio management, hedge fund, private equity, risk management etc.
Course Testimonials
This course is something I never thought I would be able to avail. I decided to go for CFA level 1 and was asking for advice. My senior asked me to join this course. And long story short, I clear the exam in one go. It still seems like a magic to me as I have never had any experience in finance and guess what I clear the CFA level 1 in the first attempt. I recommend this course to anyone who is appearing for CFA level 1 exam.
This course is a quick-fix, even if they call it not. I am the living proof. I was a training manager in a big corporate. I was unhappy at work. My boss didn’t treat me well. And I was underperforming for last 2 years due to my lack of self-esteem. I desperately wanted to change. My wife told me about this course. I hopped on it. I thought it would be hard. But I was wrong. With the help of this course, I cleared CFA level 1. I resigned from my old job and now working as a senior executive in a small financial consulting firm. I am happier than ever.
This is the most structured, professional course I have ever got my hands on. Moreover, you do it at your own pace. My CFA level 1 exam is near. I’m very confident that I will clear the exam. All credit goes to this CFA level 1 preparatory course.
More testimonials – eduCBA Reviews
Sample Videos
