What’s the Best CFA Level 3 Study Order?

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Level 1 Topic Order â€¢ Level 2 Topic Order â€¢ Level 3 Topic Order

CFA Level 3 curriculum content has undergone a huge revamp during 2019-2021. The good news is that there are no major changes between 2023 and 2024’s CFA Level 3 curriculum this time around. There are 33 readings (2024) in the CFA Level 3 syllabus across 7 topics.

A common question we get asked in 300Hours Forum is whether candidates should study the topics chronologically, or if there is a better CFA Level 3 study order?

Having passed the CFA Level 3 exam, here’s my view on the optimal order of topics to study (and why).


Recommended Study Plan for CFA Level 3 Topics (2024’s Curriculum)

best CFA Level 3 study order

CFA Level 3 is basically mostly Portfolio Management (PM), and the flow of topics follows the PM process:

  • PM Framework  â†’​ Asset Class Strategies  â†’​ Client Needs  â†’​ Execution  â†’​ Performance Evaluation​​ â†’​ Ethics

The good news is, CFA Institute confirmed that the design of the readings in each study session do not assume that the candidate approaches the study sessions in any particular order.

However, it is worth remembering that Level 3 is quite different from previous levels, as it has a more holistic approach with PM permeating most of the topics throughout. 
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Here’s my thought process and strategy on CFA Level 3 topic’s study order:

  • Leaving Ethics last: Based on previous experience, this helped with last minute memorization and understanding of this rather dry but crucial topic. The key is to budget sufficient time and not rush through.
  • Start strong with a challenging & important topic: Having had a look through the updated content this year, Fixed Income seems to be fit this bill. One may argue that starting with a tricky one is demotivating, but I’d argue otherwise that there is a higher success rate of tackling a heavily weighted, tricky topic with a fresh mind first! Which leads me to the next point…
  • Alternating the difficult and easier topics: This “sandwich method” worked for me quite well in previous levels to stay motivated. By alternating trickier and easier topics one after another, it gives a sense of progress and momentum throughout your studies. Crucially, it provides the opportunity to catchup time-wise if you’re lagging behind by blitzing through the lighter topics. Difficulty in this sense is judged not just by content, but more importantly the topic weight. 
  • Portfolio Management’s flow of topic: As mentioned previously above, Level 3 is unique in the sense that PM pretty much permeates all the topics in this Level and has a natural flow to it that is worth following chronologically. 

In short, this led me to the following suggested CFA Level 3 study order for 2024’s curriculum:

CFA Level 3 Topic Study Order2024’s Curriculum
1) Fixed IncomeReading 19-22
2) EquityReading 23-26
3) EconomicsReading 1-3
4) Portfolio Management (Asset Allocation only)Reading 4-6
5) DerivativesReading 17-18
6) Alternative Investment Reading 27-28
7) Portfolio Management (the rest)Reading 7-16
8) Ethics & GIPSReading 29-33

As you can probably see, CFA Institute has improved the overall flow of topics for 2024’s CFA Level 3 curriculum, so our suggested optimal flow of topics pretty much follows the natural curriculum’s order, with the exception of studying Fixed Income and Equity topics first.

Below is a little commentary that applies to 2024’s CFA Level 3 readings:


1st: Fixed Income

CFA Institutes methodology for determining Minimum Passing Score MPS

My strategy here is to start strong with Fixed Income, simply because it has the second highest topic weight (15-20%) and is one of the trickier topics of Level 3.

Key concepts to focus on this topic area are:

  • cash flow matching, duration matching, contingent immunization, rolldown return, rolling yield;
  • various durations (money duration, effective duration, key rate duration, modified duration, Macaulay duration, spread duration), convexity;
  • butterfly trade, condor trade;
  • various spreads (G-spread, I-spread, Z-spread, option-adjusted spread (OAS)).

2nd: Equity

After the fixed income section, this should give you a bit of a breather.

Given that Equity is still a big topic area with 10-15% topic weight, this could be the topic where you can really excel in to boost your average score, as it is definitely more straightforward than Fixed Income.

These study sessions are mostly focused on active equity investment strategies and portfolio construction. Most of the 4 readings across 2 sessions are more conceptual, but do remember your various definitions of Value at Risks (e.g. VaR, CVaR, IVaR, MVaR).


3rd: Economics

Economics in CFA Level 3 is focused on capital markets expectations, and is generally quite approachable. Areas to focus on are:

  • the various stages of business cycle and its relationship to inflation;
  • the implications of inflation for cash, bonds, equity, and real estate returns;
  • the effects of monetary and fiscal policy on business cycles;
  • shape of the yield curve, and its relationship with monetary & fiscal policies;
  • various methods of forecasting asset returns.

If time permits, these study sessions could benefit from making summary notes for future easy reference. Don’t spend too long a time though and move through these topics quickly for the next few big chapters.


4th & 5th: Asset Allocation and Derivatives

CFA Passing Scores for Level 1 2 and 3 Minimum Passing Score MPS

Asset Allocation is classified under Portfolio Management for topic weight purposes, but grouped with Derivatives for my ‘sandwich method’.

In this book, Derivatives & Currency Management are the more challenging chapters compared to Asset Allocation, despite having similar number of readings each. Derivatives readings are also one of the more calculation-focused ones and very testable. So make sure you allocate more time for Derivatives in this book.


6th: Alternative Investment

Now we are about halfway through the curriculum! 

This section starts with Alternative Investments (5-10% topic weight) with 2 readings. Overall, these are relatively straightforward, mostly theory-based with some calculations sprinkled throughout. Again, doing summary notes could be useful here (time permitting) for future reference.


7th: Private Wealth Management, Institutional Investors, Other Portfolio Management Topics & Case Studies

CFA Level 3 Study Tips Advice

Instead, you should concentrate most of your time on the Private Wealth Management readings, part of the giant Portfolio Management sections (35-40% topic weighting). These PWM topics are focused on private clients’ (including individual investor policy statement (IPS).

There is also a large and key chapter on Institutional Investor’s IPS, which you should know well. Performance evaluation is a critical part of the portfolio management process, make sure you are familiar with the ratios for measuring active management (e.g. Sharpe ratio, Treynor ratio, Information ratio, Appraisal ratio, Sortino ratio, Capture ratios). Trade Strategy and Investor Manager selection readings are relatively straightforward.

Finally, the last 3 readings are actually case studies, where you’ll learn how to apply your consolidated knowledge holistically. In a way, they are not readings per se, but a good example of the feel of the exam style questions (although in the real exams you’ll just have mini versions of these case studies). 


8th: Ethics & GIPS

Saving the ‘best’ for last, Ethics constitutes 10-15% topic weight for the Level 3 exam. That’s joint 3rd place with Equity – do not leave this section too late!

While most material may be familiar, Global Investment Performance Standards (GIPS) is new at this Level, and definitely worth spending time on. You’ll need to know the guidance on Standards I-VII and their application, as it is a popular area to test on. 

Remember guys, this is the final challenge. For those candidates who are deemed a borderline case, CFA Institute will factor in the candidate’s score on Ethics, so do make time and effort for this section as has strong influence on a pass or fail.


Hope you found the CFA Level 3 study order above a helpful boost to your Level 3 preparation. Best of luck for exams!

P.S – these resources may be helpful:

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6 thoughts on “What’s the Best CFA Level 3 Study Order?”

  1. Hi,

    I am signed up for the level 3 exam in February 24, and I find it a little difficult to match the titles and/or numbers of the readings to what I find in the Learning Ecosystem (where there is different names and I cannot seem to find numbers).
    I dont know if that is because it has been updated or whether I cannot match it, but I would really appreciate some help.

    Reply
  2. Thanks Sophie! I couldn’t agree more with placing Fixed Income readings towards the beginning of one’s Level III studies; Mark Meldrum suggested the same on his YouTube channel in September 2018 and I foolishly ignored his recommendation, studying the books in chronological order instead. Fixed Income was soul destroying…

    Reply
    • You’re welcome Jasdev 🙂 Hope it helps your preparation this time and I’m glad you didn’t give up! Best of luck for Level 3, you’re nearly there!

      Reply

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