The CFA Level 1 exam is in many ways the most challenging of the CFA exams as it is fully tested by multiple choice – subsequent exams suchs as Levels 2 and 3 are written and offer candidates the opportunity to get some ‘easy’ marks such as listing  the pro’s and con’s of various valuation techniques.

The heaviest component of the exams the Investment Tools section which tests the candidate’s knowledge of valuation techniques across a wide variety of financial instruments (equities, bonds, derivatives and alternative investments). The CFA Institute lists an extremely extensive extensive set of possible items to be tested for Investment Tools, however in reality the exam questions tend to be focused on a much narrower set of items. Some topics such as recitation of the Black Scholes formula have never been asked whereas the Dividend Discount Model of valuation is tested in almost every exam.

One issue to note with the above weights is that a candidate’s Ethics score will be evaluated in the event the candidate’s exam score is marginal, thus the Ethics topic is probably the most important topic after Investment Tools.

CFA Exams are held twice annually in June and December, detailed on enrollment can be found on the CFA Institute website.

• Hold a bachelor’s (or equivalent) degree
  - or be in the last year of a bachelor’s degree program at the time of registration for the CFA Exam
  - or have four years of relevant, professional work experience
  - or have a combination of college and work experience which totals at least four years
• Understand and comply with the the professional conduct requirements(and sign the  Candidate Responsibility Statement)
• Good command of English (all exams are set in English)
• Hold  a valid  passport for enrollment to the CFA Institute  and for CFA exam registration