Ethics and Quantitative Methods
Start Ethics immediately and keep a running list of rule distinctions. Pair it with time value of money, statistics, hypothesis testing, and probability so calculator fluency becomes automatic.
CFA Level I is broad, but it is not flat. CFA Institute publishes topic-weight ranges, so your study plan should reflect them: keep Ethics visible every week, give Financial Statement Analysis, Equity, Fixed Income, and Portfolio Management recurring practice, and avoid spending a full week polishing a low-weight topic while high-weight misses pile up.
The 4-month plan
Finish the first pass early
Economics and Financial Statement Analysis
Cover supply and demand, market structures, macro indicators, currency concepts, and the core financial statements. Do practice questions after each reading instead of saving them for the end.
Corporate Issuers and Equity
Study capital budgeting, cost of capital, corporate governance, market organization, industry analysis, and valuation models. Build a formula sheet, but write when each formula applies.
Fixed Income and Derivatives
Slow down for yields, duration, convexity, credit risk, forward contracts, futures, options, and swaps. These topics punish surface memorization, so draw cash flows and payoff diagrams.
Alternatives and Portfolio Management
Finish the first content pass. Cover real assets, private markets, hedge funds, portfolio risk and return, diversification, and performance concepts. Revisit Ethics and FSA once each week.
Mixed question blocks
Switch from reading to timed mixed sets. Sort misses by topic and by failure mode: concept gap, formula recall, calculator error, or misread wording.
Mock exams and repair
Take a mock under realistic timing. Spend more time reviewing the mock than taking it. Use the review to choose three repair themes, then drill those themes before the next mock.
Final review
Rotate Ethics, formulas, high-weight topic misses, and one short mixed set most days. The final week should be controlled: light new learning, strong sleep, and clear exam logistics.
Topic strategy
Use weights to choose the next hour
Protect Ethics
Ethics is high weight and easy to let fade. Do short Ethics sets every week, especially after you think you are finished with the topic.
Repeat big accounting and investment topics
Financial Statement Analysis, Equity, Fixed Income, and Portfolio Management need spaced repetition. A single first pass is rarely enough.
Keep smaller topics moving
Derivatives, alternatives, economics, and corporate issuers still matter, but they should not crowd out repeated practice on larger weak areas.
Simple weekly cadence: four content blocks, two question blocks, one Ethics refresh, and one miss-log review. Once you enter the final month, invert that ratio: questions first, reading second.
Make it adaptive
Turn topic weights into a calendar
Use the free planner to map your CFA exam date, weekly study hours, and weak topic areas into a day-by-day schedule.
Sources