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LM01 Alternative Investment Features, Methods, and Structures
LM01 Categories, Characteristics, and Compensation Structures of Alternative Investments
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LM01 Derivative Instrument and Derivative Market Features
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LM01 Ethics and Trust in the Investment Profession
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LM01 Fixed-Income Securities: Defining Elements
LM01 Introduction to Financial Statement Analysis
LM01 Introduction to Financial Statement Analysis
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LM01 Portfolio Management: An Overview
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LM02 Forward Commitment and Contingent Claim Features and Instruments
LM02 Introduction to Corporate Governance and Other ESG Considerations
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LM02 Organizing, Visualizing, and Describing Data
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LM02 Portfolio Risk & Return: Part I
LM02 Portfolio Risk and Return Part I
LM02 Security Market Indexes
LM02 Security Market Indexes
LM02 The Firm and Market Structures
LM02 Time Value of Money in Finance
LM02 Understanding Business Cycles
LM03 Aggregate Output, Prices and Economic Growth
LM03 Analyzing Balance Sheets
LM03 Business Models & Risks
LM03 Corporate Governance: Conflicts, Mechanisms, Risks, and Benefits
LM03 Derivative Benefits, Risks, and Issuer and Investor Uses
LM03 Derivative Benefits, Risks, and Issuer and Investor Uses
LM03 Fiscal Policy
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LM03 Guidance for Standards I-VII
LM03 Guidance for Standards I–VII
LM03 Introduction to Fixed Income Valuation
LM03 Investments in Private Capital: Equity and Debt
LM03 Market Efficiency
LM03 Market Efficiency
LM03 Portfolio Risk & Return: Part II
LM03 Portfolio Risk and Return Part II
LM03 Private Capital, Real Estate, Infrastructure, Natural Resources, and Hedge Funds
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LM03 Statistical Measures of Asset Returns
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LM04 An Introduction to Asset-Backed Securities
LM04 Analyzing Statements of Cash Flows I
LM04 Arbitrage, Replication, and the Cost of Carry in Pricing Derivatives
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LM04 Introduction to the Global Investment Performance Standards (GIPS)
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LM05 Introduction to Geopolitics
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LM07 Pricing and Valuation of Interest Rates and Other Swaps
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LM08 Currency Exchange Rates
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LM08 Pricing and Valuation of Options
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LM08 Topics in Long-Term Liabilities and Equity
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LM10 Valuing a Derivative Using a One-Period Binomial Model
LM10 Valuing a Derivative Using a One-Period Binomial Model
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LM11 Introduction to Big Data Techniques
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LM18 Asset-Backed Security (ABS) Instrument and Market Features
LM19 Mortgage-Backed Security (MBS) Instrument and Market Features
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Advice for those who passed the Aug’24 Level I exam

Congratulations!

Passing the Level I exam is the first major milestone on your journey toward the CFA charter and is a major accomplishment. At this stage, you might be wondering whether to take the Level II exam in May 2025(earliest possible) or later, and if so, when to start studying.

Whether or not to take the Level II exam in May 2025 should depend on the following:

  1. Did you enjoy the Level I material and are you still excited about pursuing a career in investment management?
  2. Given your personal and professional commitments, will you have enough time to study for the Level II exam? The minimum required study time will vary from person to person but I’d say the average candidate needs roughly 400 hours.

If you enjoyed the Level I material, are excited about expanding your knowledge of investment management, and will be able to make time to study, then I say take the Level II exam in the next available sitting i.e. May 2025. However, you can also choose to sit for the Level II exam in the exam sessions later, if you want to give yourself more time.

Before addressing the issue of when to start studying, I’ll make some high-level points related to the Level II exam.

  1. Level II is significantly more quantitatively intense relative to Level I. Specifically, there is an emphasis on pricing and valuation across multiple topics.
  2. Some candidates might have cleared Level I by slogging in the last few weeks; this strategy is much less likely to work at Level II.
  3. Working through curriculum questions at Level I was important, and I’d say it is critical at Level II.

Given the above, I’d suggest you start your studies as early as possible. If time is on your side, you have the luxury of being able to properly understand Level II concepts. You’ll enjoy the material and learn a lot more this way. Alternatively, you could wait for the last few months and then cram with the sole objective of passing the exam. Unfortunately, many people follow the later ‘strategy’, but I hope you understand when I say it is not the recommended approach.

For either path you choose to take, I wish you the best of luck.

Regards,

Arif Irfanullah, CFA

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