The CFA designation has one of the hardest exam series in the world. It requires rigorous dedication and persistence to pass. To reinforce my understanding of the topics, I’ve compiled personal CFA level 3 notes and formulas.
This is not an official or comprehensive CFA study guide. It’s my short guide and shouldn’t be used in place of official study material. By making it public, my goal is to help others review and better understand the financial concepts.
CFA Level 3 Notes by Category
I’ve listed the CFA level 3 exam categories below. They each link to a separate notes page…
Update 2020: I passed the final CFA exam last year. These notes helped me focus on some of the most important concepts. And I hope they help you study more efficiently as well.
- Behavioral Finance
- Individual Investors
- Institutional Investors
- Applications of Economic Analysis
- Asset Allocation
- Fixed Income Portfolio Management
- Equity Portfolio Management
- Alternative Investments
- Risk Management
- Application of Derivatives
- Trading and Rebalancing
- Performance Evaluation
- Global Investment Performance Standards
To find the updated CFA exam weights, it’s best to go straight to the source. Check out the CFA Program Study Sessions Page. It gives a breakdown for all three levels.
Invest mindfully,
Brian Kehm
P.S. Mastering mental models can help you pass the CFA exams. Your brain and body are fine-tuned. Learning how they work can improve your chances of success in all areas of life. Here’s one of my favorite articles… Fake Smile Psychology
Its very useful. Can you please email me these notes because I am not able to copy from here. email id vikaskumarthakur1986@gmail.com.
Thanks in advance!
I haven’t saved my notes in other formats (outside of handwritten). Although, if I create new file formats, I’ll send them your way.
Hi Brian,
First of all thanks for your great work!
Would you have these notes in a word document by any chance? If so could you please send it over to patrickh-l@hotmail.com, it would be very much appreciated.
Best regards,
Patrick
Thanks Patrick! I don’t have all of these notes in a word document. A lot of them were handwritten before I converted them and put them up on my site. Although, if I do convert the notes to word docs, I’ll send them your way.
Hi Brian,
All good! I can read them here on your blog no worries if you don’t plan on converting them!
Cheers
Hi Brian,
Can you send me your notes in word or pdf file.
Neeraj
Brian – do you have the your institutional investor notes – the link is broken here?
thanks,
jonny
Hey Jonny… I haven’t added institutional investor notes yet. I skipped that section and have been focusing my time on practice exams. I got a 68% on the afternoon 3 hour practice exam questions today :/ … I still have a lot of room to improve.
Hi Brian
Great notes.
IS there any chance you can send me your word version? Would save me time from copying onto my own work doc.
Cheers!
This is amazing! I just want to say thanks sharing your hard earned knowledge here. This wills save me lots of time from looking up random little topics I need to refresh.
Thanks Günther and I’m glad the CFA level 3 notes help. Best of luck on the exam!
Hi Brian,
This is really useful. Is it possible to send it to me in pdf/word format if you have converted it? Thank you.
Hey Isabel, I’m glad my notes are helping. Although, I still haven’t converted them to a PDF or Word doc. If I do end up converting them, I’ll send it your way.