CFA Course Study Material

Nowadays, there is a lot of study material easily available in the market or internet to aid students in preparing for the CFA® exams. So much study material is available to the students that they are getting confused as to which study material would be “sufficient or complete to help them crack the CFA® Exam?”

To throw some light on this dilemma, I would firstly like to inform students (though some of you might already be aware) that the payment you make for The CFA® exam registration includes the cost of:

• The eBook (contains the complete curriculum you need to study)*
• An interactive study planner to guide and track your exam preparation
• Topic-based practice tests
• Mock exams
• A mobile study app with access to everything listed above

*You may purchase a print version of the curriculum (available for a non-refundable fee of US$150, plus any fees associated with shipping) at the same time you register for an exam, or later.

(Source: THE CFA Institute Website)

This means that every candidate will get the CFA® Program Curriculum books on registering for the CFA® exam. I personally feel that the quality (with respect to the depth of concepts and their explanations) of the CFA® Program Curriculum books provided by the CFA® Institute is very high. Every concept is explained in a reasonably detailed manner and the language used is quite simple to understand.

As a matter of fact, many CFA® candidates are also working and hard pressed for time, so the only problem that candidates face while reading from the CFA® Program Curriculum books is that they  are very time consuming (because they explain every concept in detail, it takes lot of time to finish the books). That’s why they look for some supplementary study material provided by lot of prep service providers.

These study material providers prepare their CFA® Study Notes by referring to the CFA® Program Curriculum books and they explain the concepts in a summarized manner covering almost all important areas. Many of these also provide practice volumes (mock tests), quick sheets (a kind of formula sheet to help students quickly revise all subjects in one go), flash cards, recorded video lectures, online videos (generally free). Hence, majority of CFA® students use these study notes and tools to prepare for the CFA® Exams.

Having studied so much and also being in the coaching industry for so many years, here are my suggestions on what students should do:

1. IDEAL SOLUTION - If you have enough time and can start your preparations well in time (say approx 6-8 months before exam), read CFA® Program Curriculum Volumes fully, solve all its examples given in each chapter and questions at the back of each chapter.
   
2. PRACTICAL SOLUTION - If you have limited time, use any of the credible study notes material like Schweser NotesTM for reading. And after understanding the concept, solve all examples and questions related to that topic from the CFA® Program Curriculum books. What I am trying to emphasize on is that even if you don’t read CFA® Program Curriculum Volumes, you still must solve all the examples and questions from these books. They are really important as I find the quality of these questions very good.

Final word of advice - Practice as much as possible (take as many mock tests as you can) and do not forget to take the CFA® Practice and Mock Tests. All the BEST!!

1. Its CONCEPTS founder and lead faculty Nisha Sharma Mahajan has cleared all levels of CFA® (USA), FRM® (USA), CPA® (USA) and is also an MBA (Finance) with more than ten years of teaching as well as industry experience. Visit www.itsconcepts.com to know more.
2. The CFA® Program
3. How to prepare for the CFA® Exams?
4. Approved calculators for the CFA® Exams
5. What to expect from a CFA® Crash Course

Last Minute Preparation Tips to help crack the CFA® Exam