A well-deserved reputation as a quality CFA provider with stellar video instruction and materials
About IFT
IFT CFA has helped thousands of candidates successfully prepare for all three levels of the CFA Program exam since 2011. Founded by Arif Irfanullah (currently CEO), IFT provides a “complete learning experience and preparation strategy” for CFA candidates, with materials closely in sync with the official CFA Program curriculum.
IFT’s guiding mantra is to understand and practice – to develop a thorough understanding of fundamental concepts via active learning and worked examples.
In basic terms, the idea is that their video lectures help you understand, study notes help you retain, and question banks, quizzes, mock exams help you practice. Effective comprehension, retention and practice – in theory – equals a smooth pass.
IFT: Packages and Offers
What study packages are available for the CFA Program?
IFT’s study packages are simple to understand – Basic, Basic Plus or Premium. They also offer a free full topic course at each level and live (Zoom) classes alongside their ‘core’ study packages.
Basic
Their ‘bare-bones’ package, including:
- Video Lectures
- Lecture Slides
- Active-Learning
Basic Plus
All Basic features, plus on-demand Instruction and Review features:
- Video Lectures
- Lecture Slides
- Active-Learning
- Study Notes
- Question Bank
- Topic Exams
- Practice Problem Videos
- Key Facts & Formulas Sheet
Premium
All Core features, plus live Instruction and Review features:
- Video Lectures
- Lecture Slides
- Active-Learning
- Study Notes
- Question Bank
- Topic Exams
- Practice Problem Videos
- Key Facts & Formulas Sheet
- Q&A with Instructor
- High-Yield Course
- Mock Exams
- Pass Protection
The Basic Package is IFT’s essentials package, including their Video Lectures, Lecture Slides and Active Learning.
The Basic Plus Package includes the Videos, Slides and Active Learning, but also adds Study Notes, Question Bank, Topic Exams and a handy Formula Sheet. For Levels 2 & 3, this includes Practice Problem Videos, where most of the curriculum practice problems are solved. This can be really helpful to understanding both the topic and how to answer a question.
The Premium Package includes everything in Basic Plus, but also adds in an instructor Q&A support service, three mock exams, ‘High-Yield’ videos and study notes – summary content containing the most important points in the curriculum for quick review, and Pass Protection, which is a guarantee that you’ll get ongoing access to IFT’s updated materials until you pass your CFA level. The Premium Package’s bells and whistles are all actually pretty useful, so even at the higher price point, we think it’s a pretty solid deal.
Our recommendation: Unless you have lots of alternative practice exams, we would recommend going for at least the Basic Plus Package, which includes some much-needed practice. Looking through the courses and prices, we would recommend the Premium Package for a really thorough, good-bang-for-buck course and Pass Protection ensures you don’t pay multiple times. But if you’re confident of your study prowess and want to save a couple hundred dollars, stick with Basic Plus.
What is Active Learning?
Active Learning is IFT’s approach to ensuring candidates retain as much information as they can when they study, by sequencing instruction, review and reflection. Active Learning is comprised of three steps:
- Listen to the lectures. Do the examples of each reading with the instructor.
- Review the slides to recapitulate the essential points covered in the lectures.
- Take the short quiz provided after each lecture to apply what you have learned!
The Crash Course is IFT’s ‘revise and practice’ course, designed to help you prepare after you’ve done an initial round of study. It includes ten 2-3 hour live interactive classes over 2 weeks over Zoom, a WhatsApp class group, “High-Yield” (condensed) study notes, questions, formula sheets, as well as recordings of all classes.
IFT also offers a generous Free Sample for those wanting to experience IFT products before deciding on a full purchase. The Free Sample includes all premium content – full detailed videos, study notes, question banks and Active Learning System for one full topic in the CFA curriculum. In Levels 1 and 2 this is Quantitative Methods, and in Level 3, it’s Behavioral Finance and Capital Market Expectations.
IFT’s current CFA offers and deals
IFT has been known for its free videos on YouTube, but they also have samples of notes and practice questions for all CFA levels.
Get free CFA materials from IFT →
IFT also offers a free sample course, containing the videos, study notes, question banks and Active Learning routine covering a part of the CFA curriculum. In Levels 1 and 2 this is Quantitative Methods, and in Level 3, it’s Behavioral Finance and Capital Market Expectations.
IFT: Review of CFA Exam Materials
Study and Review Materials
Study Notes: IFT’s Study Notes are thorough, clear, summarized
IFT’s study notes are called, well, Study Notes, and covers all learning outcomes in the curriculum. This is provided in PDF – there are no print copies available.
The format is pretty sensible, helpful, and explanations are clear. IFT has gone through the curriculum and highlights particular areas where they believe is important. Walkthroughs and examples throughout the notes to clearly illustrate the concepts explained.
At the end of each reading, IFT includes a summary of all the concepts that were just explained. The summaries are also super handy for when you’re revising.
Practice questions are also included at the end of each reading for candidates to practice, with detailed explanations included. These are not soft-ball questions though – I thought they were pretty close to mock exam level, which can be handy in getting an idea of how the reading you’ve just studied would be tested in the CFA exam.
My one (small) complaint is that my old-school compulsions do prefer the option of physical copies, although I suppose it would be pretty easy to get your PDF copy printed out professionally.
Review Notes: IFT’s High Yield Notes
High Yield Notes is IFT’s summarized guide for candidates as the exam day approaches. Heavily summarized and distilled, this is designed to be able to be quickly read through for review, even on exam day itself. It may also be useful to use along the way to help you keep from forgetting earlier readings (now called Learning Modules).
It contains concise, readable explanations of the major parts of the CFA curriculum – rather like a polished version of a diligent candidate’s notes.
Practice Questions and Mock Exams
Question Banks: practice with thousands of questions online
IFT is known for being an evangelist of practicing hard for the CFA exams. “Practice to pass” makes perfect sense, and is something 300Hours also strongly recommends. To back that up, IFT provides a solid Question Bank product, with over 3,000 questions at L1 and 2,000 questions at L2. At L3, the Question bank crucially covers all readings with both vignettes and essay questions.
Most standard features are available, such as detailed answer explanations, organized by CFA reading, automatic grading and review-later options.
Practice Exams: Three mocks available
IFT has three mock exams available for each CFA level. These are full mock exams designed to be similar in difficulty to the real CFA exam. Detailed solutions are provided as standard, and you can attempt the mocks an unlimited amount of times.
The mock exams are included in the Premium package, or can be bought separately.
High-Yield Q-Bank (for L1 & L2)
Designed for summary and review practice, these are carefully selected questions from the main Q-bank, covering concepts that are most likely to show up on the exam. All LOS are covered and there is a minimum topic overlap.
CFA Classes, Courses and Videos
Classroom & Video Courses: Attend live online or OnDemand
IFT’s Live Classes are a 6-month course, consisting of twice-weekly, two-hour classes.
The classes focus on the application of studied concepts to exam questions. They are designed assuming that you’ve done your studying already – you’re there to learn how to apply your knowledge and answer exam questions.
During the class, CFA readings are summarized or discussed, before walking through practice questions for the reading. The class uses CFA Institute curriculum practice problems, also known as end-of-chapter (EOC) questions. If you have questions, you can ask them as you go along, either via voice or chat.
The Live Classes are held via Zoom and recordings are uploaded after the class for those who want to review, or missed the class.
The classes do not include the cost of materials – you’ll have to purchase these separately, although a discount is offered on them if you’re a class attendee.
Review Courses: IFT’s Crash Courses and High-Yield Courses preps you for exam day
Most CFA providers have a ‘revise and practice’ product, and IFT is no exception. These are designed to help you prepare after you’ve done an initial round of study. IFT’s review courses come in two versions:
- High-Yield Course, a self-study review course for those who prefer to self-study and review at their own pace. These include:
- High-Yield Notes: Summary of the most important concepts from each reading in 2 to 5 pages. Key formulas and facts are presented in blue boxes while examples appear in gray boxes.
- High-Yield Lectures: Online video lectures based on the notes. Each reading is covered in 10 to 20 minutes (totaling about 15 hours)
- High-Yield Q-Bank (for L1 & L2): Carefully selected questions covering concepts that are most likely to show up on the exam. All LOS are covered and there is a minimum overlap of the questions.
- Key Facts and Formula Sheet
- Crash Course, a guided, live review course for those who prefer an interactive and more guided approach to review. It includes:
- Ten 2-3 hour live interactive Zoom classes over 2 weeks
- A WhatsApp class support group
- High-Yield Notes
- Key Facts and Formula Sheet
- Recordings of all classes
More details on all IFT’s Review courses →
Other Features: Key Facts & Formula Sheet, Pass Protection
Key Facts & Formulas Sheet
An uber-condensed fact sheet, usually about 10-25 pages long, this contains formulas, definitions, and key facts of the CFA curriculum in one place for quick review. As with all IFT’s products, this is an e-copy, but you can easily print this out.
Arranged on a reading-by-reading basis, this saves you time having to flip frantically through the curriculum to review concepts or recheck a formula – handy for reference when studying, practicing, and exam day.
Here’s an example of how IFT’s Key Facts & Formulas sheet looks like. You can also download a sample at IFT’s free materials page.
Mobile App
IFT also supplements their suite of products with a mobile app, downloadable from Google Play or the Apple App Store. The app itself is free – content such as courses and videos would sync with your purchases with IFT, using the same login details. You can view notes and videos on the go, and also download them for offline use.
Their app is popular – for example, on Android Google Play, the app has over 15,000 downloads and 4.6 stars from about 1000 reviews.
Pass Protection Guarantee
IFT’s Premium Package includes a Pass Protection guarantee. This basically means IFT commits to provide you with access to the exam prep materials until you pass the exam you are registered for. For example, if you fail Level 1 with IFT’s Premium Package, you should be able to access IFT study materials for your retake for free – until you pass.
To claim, you’ll have to contact IFT for them to enable your access to updated materials for your next exam.
There are some terms, but none of them onerous:
- Pass protection is valid for a maximum of 5 years from date of purchase. If you need materials after the 5 year window, you’re out of luck, but IFT might be able to give you some discounts. Hopefully you don’t be stuck in the same CFA Level for 5 years though!
- Pass protection does not include IFT purchases not included in the original purchased package, or services such as Q&A with Instructor, Live Classes and Grading services.
Learn more IFT’s Pass Protection →
IFT CFA Reviews and Ratings
| Overall rating (128) | 4.1 ★ |
| Level 1 | 4.0 ★ |
| Level 2 | 4.2 ★ |
| Level 3 | 4.0 ★ |
| Study materials ↑ | 4.2 ★ |
| Classes, courses and videos ↑ | 4.0 ★ |
| Practice questions and mocks ↑ | 4.0 ★ |
| Online platform and apps ↑ | 3.9 ★ |
Henderson B • Level 1
I have just started your course and I really like the explanations of the lecture. But when analyzing examples, the teacher writes a little untidily, and therefore it is not clear to me what he writes. Although I have a question-answer option in the package, access to it is so complicated that I no longer want to use it, unfortunately. It is desirable to greatly simplify the student’s access to obtaining answers to specific questions.
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Shea P • Level 1
As a service holder we do not enough time to study. Will be better if study notes is more precise. Your high yield notes is to small & usual notes is to lengthy for me. Sorry for the comments but i feel it. best regards
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Bernardo V • Level 1
I wanted to purchase the full package course via the invoice system, but IFT was unable to help further, thus I decided to use the free package. It would be useful to add an invoice system into your payment system
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Giulio L • Level 1
I purchased a product from IFT, unfortunately, I couldn’t pass the CFA exam. In this case, I would suggest, giving some discount for the same product could be really a good deal.
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Olayemi Tolulope Dada • Level 1
IFT’s videos were so explanatory, and I also leveraged the curriculum’s problem questions and summary sessions after each reading. The mock questions when completed some weeks before the exam really helped me in my final preparation.
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Karry E • Level 1
Your products are very expensive and I want to purchase but i am not able to do so.
Keep prices low if possible.
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Heidi P • Level 1
I Thank you very much. I am able to clear my exam just by following IFT.
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Vishvas Gupta • Level 1
The study material was very concise and crisp. Also the teacher’s insights were really helpful.
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Marlie J • Level 1
The fee for live class is too expensive for me.
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Bellanca W • Level 1
Original instructor Arif is unmatchable.
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Weidar M • Level 1
The notes and videos were very helpful.
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Marna W • Level 1
Thanks, this helped me pass my exam!
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Izzy R • Level 2
The live classes have been very helpful for me as it helped to identify the key focus areas.
Our instructor is also very helpful and willing to explain till everyone understands.
Class video uploads have improved significantly from last year but towards January 2022, we had to send several emails before classes were uploaded.
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Salome D • Level 2
The IFT Key Facts and Formula sheets can include more items since there were white spaces at the end. Example, it should have Durbin-Watson test statistics hypothesis testing guide. Other important formulas like calculating FFO (in Alternative Investments) instead of just outlining the definitions.
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Hamid N • Level 2
More details should be provided for correct answers and incorrect answers as it is done for end of reading in the CFA curriculum.
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Inger R • Level 2
Instead of updating several small portions of a video, make a new video if something changes.
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Louis E • Level 2
Formula Sheet seems too simple, it should be more detail.
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Merv C • Level 2
The Quiz after the readings should be much more.
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Neha • Level 2
The videos are extremely good and very exhaustive – I think that’s the best available CFA Level 2 prep among all providers. It’s really helped me strengthen my weak areas and smooth my preparation. I would definitely recommend it for videos. Question bank is good too.
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Haleigh B • Level 2
I would recommend to my friends who take level 2 to sign up for IFT’s product.
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Alfreda C • Level 3
I never received no courses, I emailed your help team. I told them that I am in Haiti, and I am from a poor family. I am done with classique school, how they can help a youth full of depression, cause I see my future is sinking and I don’t want to be part of those who are killing people are kidnapping people to have money, I’m Christian and I want to do everything right. Depression is killing me and you’ll part of those who are responsible.
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Ceciley R • Level 3
The high yield notes are fantastic. They were key to helping me pass the exams. I had written level 3 twice before failed because one major issue was that I kept forgetting the theory but the high yield notes brought all the concepts together and enabled me also have time to practice
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Trisha C • Level 3
The best part of your services is Rafay Sohail’s classes. Without them, I would not have been able to clear the exam. The video lectures on their own are not enough.
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Dalli D • Level 3
The videos could be shorter, while for students that do not pass the exam (as me) it would be fair to give access to the materials purchased in the past round.
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Ogdan G • Level 3
No nonsense straight to the point videos, makes you use the time in best and fastest way possible.
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Ludwig L • Level 3
The app need to be more friendly. The lack of user-friendliness forces me to use the website.
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