Congratulations on clearing Level I! This is a significant achievement and you are one step closer to your ultimate objective of getting the CFA charter. You now need to focus your efforts on Level II. Note that the Level II content is much harder, and you should be mentally prepared for putting in a lot more effort.
Exam Format
As with Level I, the Level II exam also consists of two 3-hour sessions. However, instead of individual questions, the exam now contains case-study based questions. There will be multiple questions corresponding to a case. This means that you will have to read a lot of information presented in the case before you can start answering questions. The questions will still be in MCQ format, with 3-options per question. (You will come across essay-style questions only at Level III).
Content
The Level II content builds on Level I, we have the same 10 topics, but now the topics are covered in more depth and the content is more quantitative. The table below compares Level I and Level II content.
|
|
Level I
|
Level II
|
|
Learning Outcome Statements
|
520
|
456
|
|
Study Sessions
|
19
|
17
|
|
Readings
|
57
|
48
|
|
Practice Problems
|
1,634
|
1,183
|
|
Pages (content)
|
3,156
|
3,123
|
|
Pages (practice problems)
|
529
|
643
|
Although, there are fewer LOs, readings, and practice problems at Level II; there is a lot more information in the fewer readings, and the difficulty level of the practice problems is much higher. Therefore, preparing for Level II will take more time than what you spent on Level I.
Curriculum Distribution by Topic
The table below shows the exam weights for the 10 topics. It also shows the distribution of study sessions, readings, LOS and pages across these topics.
|
Topic
|
Exam Weight
|
% of Study Sessions
|
% of Readings
|
% of LOS
|
% of Pages
|
Exam weight/ % of pages
|
|
Ethics
|
10-15%
|
5.88%
|
6.25%
|
1.32%
|
7.27%
|
1.72
|
|
Quantitative Methods
|
5-10%
|
11.76%
|
12.50%
|
12.50%
|
11.94%
|
0.63
|
|
Economics
|
5-10%
|
5.88%
|
6.25%
|
7.46%
|
6.66%
|
1.13
|
|
FRA
|
10-15%
|
11.76%
|
12.50%
|
9.87%
|
12.78%
|
0.98
|
|
Corporate Finance
|
5-10%
|
11.76%
|
10.42%
|
10.31%
|
9.09%
|
0.83
|
|
Equity
|
10-15%
|
17.65%
|
16.67%
|
21.93%
|
19.21%
|
0.65
|
|
Fixed Income
|
10-15%
|
11.76%
|
10.42%
|
11.18%
|
9.83%
|
1.27
|
|
Derivatives
|
5-10%
|
5.88%
|
4.17%
|
3.95%
|
4.55%
|
1.65
|
|
Alternative Investments
|
5-10%
|
5.88%
|
8.33%
|
9.21%
|
7.81%
|
0.96
|
|
Portfolio Management
|
5-15%
|
11.76%
|
12.50%
|
12.28%
|
10.85%
|
0.92
|
|
Total
|
100%
|
100%
|
100%
|
100%
|
100%
|
|
(Source: 2020 CFA Program Curriculum, Summary Statistics)
As compared to previous years, where some topics like equity had a much higher weight; now the weights are more balanced, and many topics have similar weights.
We have added an additional column to the data, ‘Exam weight / % of pages’ which indicates which topics give you more exam coverage per page. ( Note : This information is simply provided to you as a matter of interest. To do well on the exam, you should study all the topics well.)
Learning Ecosystem (LES)
When you sign up for the LII Exam, you get free access to the CFA Institute Learning Ecosystem (LES).
- At the heart of the LES is the LII curriculum, which provides you explanatory content, examples and practice problems. To do well on the exam you need to master the curriculum.
- The LES allows you to create a study plan. Two choices ‘adaptive’ and ‘structured’ plan are available. You can try both choices, and see which choice works better for you.
We recommend that you select the ‘adaptive’ plan. This plan will first ask you to take a pre-test. Based on the results of this test a baseline plan is established. Later, as you progress with your studies, the plan will adapt according to your strengths and weaknesses.
Whereas, the structured plan helps keep track of how much time remains until the exam and makes suggestions to complete certain activities each day.
- The LES also allows you to use tools like ‘rate your confidence’ for each reading. This tool helps keep track of where you stand for the different readings and different topics.
- In addition to the end of chapter practice problems in the curriculum, the LES also contains more practice problems which are arranged by topic. A ‘performance tracking’ mechanism lets you know your progress based on how well you do in these additional practice problems.
- Other LES resources include:
- Mock exams
- Flashcards
- Game center
- Discussion board
Do check these resources and see if you find anything particularly useful for your style of study.
Getting Started
Start your Level II preparations as soon as you can. Your study plan will involve several months of regular active study where you will be doing the readings and practice problems for the first time. You should try to finish this phase at least two months before the actual exam.
In the last two months, you should begin your revision. Scheduling a dedicated time slot for revision is important because you tend to forget what you learned earlier in your regular study phase.
The last month should be kept aside for a final review phase, where you practice several mock exams, revise important formulas, etc.
We recommend that you create a high-level study plan with the following aspects:
- Sequence: Start with a topic that you are comfortable with and find relatively interesting and easy.
- Hours per week: Make a realistic prediction of how many hours you can study per week. Create a study schedule and try to stick to your schedule.
- Strategy: Decide a study approach that works well for you. For example, after finishing a reading many students do the practice problems before moving to a new reading. Whereas, some students like to study all the readings in a topic first and then work through the questions for that topic altogether. The IFT recommended strategy will be presented in a separate blog.
Study hard, practice a lot and you will do well on your 2020 Level II exam!
Best wishes,
Arif Irfanullah, CFA