Background
To provide some background, I have passed the first two levels of CFA examination in December 2016 and June 2017, respectively, while on the leave from college. Upon grduation, I obtained the qualification to take Level 3, and hence registered for Level 3 scheduled in June 2020. Due to outbreak of COVID-19, however, CFA Institute made a decision to postpone the examination to December 2020.
CFA Institute's Announcement on Postponed Exam
With 4 months remaining until the new examination date, I plan on resuming test prep. I hope this series helps both the readers and I along the preparation towards completing the long journey towards the designation.
Topics
First, CFA Level 3 contains the following topics and weights:
| Topics | Weight (%) |
| Economics | 5-10 |
| Alternative Investments | 5-10 |
| Derivative Investments | 5-10 |
| Equity Investments | 10-15 |
| Ethical and Professional Standards | 10-15 |
| Fixed Income Investments | 15-20 |
| Portfolio Management and Wealth Planning | 35-40 |
Initial Plan
Based on my experience, I found swap, currency and fixed income to be monotomic and difficult. To account for this, I allocated more time for these topics, while prioritizing familiar subjects like Behavioral Finance or Asset Allocation. And as always, I will be reviewing ethics towards the end of the prep because ethics is (1) memorization intensive, (2) qualitative, and (3) long. Additionally, I left rooms in Week 4, 8, 11 and 17 either to review the studied topics or to make up for potential delays.
CFA Exam Level 3 Plan
| Order | Topic | Week |
| 1 | The Behavioral Finance Perspective | 1 |
| 2 | The Behavioral Biases of Individuals | 1 |
| 3 | Behavioral Finance and Investment Processes | 1 |
| 4 | Capital Market Expectations | 1 |
| 5 | Equity Market Valuation | 2 |
| 6 | Introduction to Asset Allocation | 2 |
| 7 | Principles of Asset Allocation | 2 |
| 8 | Asset Allocation with Real-World Constraints | 3 |
| 9 | Risk Management Applications of Option Strategies | 3 |
| 10 | Risk Management Applications of Forward and Futures | 4 |
| 11 | Risk Management Applications of Swap Strategies | 5 |
| 12 | Currency Management: An Introduction | 5 |
| 13 | Introduction to Fixed-Income Portfolio Management | 6 |
| 14 | Liability-Driven and Index-Based Strategies | 6 |
| 15 | Yield Curve Strategies | 7 |
| 16 | Fixed-Income Active Management: Credit Strategies | 8 |
| 17 | Introduction to Equity Portfolio Management | 9 |
| 18 | Passive Equity Investing | 9 |
| 19 | Active Equity Investing Strategies | 9 |
| 20 | Active Equity Investing: Portfolio Construction | 9 |
| 21 | Alternative Investments Portfolio Management | 10 |
| 22 | Hedge Fund Strategies | 10 |
| 23 | Asset Allocation to Alternative Investment | 10 |
| 24 | Managing Individual Investor Portfolios | 12 |
| 25 | Taxes and Private Wealth Management in a Global Context | 12 |
| 26 | Estate Planning in a Global Context | 12 |
| 27 | Concnetrated Single Asset Positions | 13 |
| 28 | Risk Management for Individuals | 13 |
| 29 | Managing Institutional Investor Portfolios | 13 |
| 30 | Execution of Portfolio Decisions | 14 |
| 31 | Evaluating Portfolio Performance | 14 |
| 32 | Selection of Investment Manager | 15 |
| 33 | Risk Management | 15 |
| 34 | Overview of Asset Management Industry & PM | 15 |
| 35 | Professionalism in Investment Management | 16 |
| 36 | Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct | 16 |
| 37 | Guidance for Standards I-VII | 16 |
| 38 | Application of the Code and Standards | 16 |
| 39 | Asset Manager Code of Professional Conduct | 17 |
| 40 | Overview of the GIPS | 17 |
For each topic and week, I plan to focus on the following:
- First Read: quick glance throughout the topics (Mon-Tues)
- Second Read: careful read with marks on difficult concepts or key points (Tues-Sat)
- Third Read: annotation for each LOS and highlight on "still-difficult" sections or concepts (Sat-Sun)
During the review periods (Week 4, 8, 11 and 17):
- Revisit "still-difficult" sections or concepts
- Memorization of formula and jorgons
- Subnote (summary) with more info on the "still-difficult "sections or concepts
Last review period (Week 18 & 19):
- Repeated read through subnotes
- Essay problem practice
- Revisit "still-difficult" sections or concepts
Next Week
Next week, I will follow up with brief notes/progress report on:
- The Behavioral Finance Perspective
- The Behavioral Biases of Individuals
- Behavioral Finance and Investment
