iJac eduBlog

CHANGES IN THE 2018 CURRICULUM

Irshad JACKARIA

The CFA Curriculum for the 23rd June 2018 exams has landed. It comprises of the usual 6 study guides, arranged into 10 Topics, but now divided into 58 readings. The 10 topics are Ethics, Quantitative Methods, Economics, Financial Reporting and Analysis, Corporate Finance, Portfolio Management, Equity, Fixed Income, Derivatives and Alternative Investment. There are 3,299 pages of intense materials and 1,572 EOC (End Of Chapter) questions eagerly awaiting for you.

Compared to the Curriculum for the June 2017 exams, which had 60 readings, the one for the June 2018 exams has:

  • 2 readings that were removed:
    • Dividend and Share Repurchases Basics in the Corporate Finance section.
    • Risk Management: Application of Option Strategies in the Derivatives section.
  • 3 readings which were updated:
    • Corporate Governance and ESG (environmental, social, governance).
    • Equity Valuation: Concepts and Basic Tools.
    • Introduction to Alternative Investments.
  • 17 new EOC Questions:
    • R10: Common probability distributions.
    • R12: Hypothesis testing.
    • R14: Topics in Demand and Supply Analysis
    • R17: Understanding Business Cycles
    • R21: Financial Statement Analysis
    • R24: Income Statements
    • R25: Balance Sheets
    • R26: Cash Flow Statements
    • R28: Inventories
    • R29: Long-Live Assets
    • R31: Non Current Liabilities
    • R32: Financial Reporting Quality
    • R34: Corporate Governance and ESG
    • R48: Industry and Company Analysis
    • R51: Fixed Income Markets
    • R55: Credit Analysis
    • R58: Alternative Investments

Based on the above, our perspective for 2018 exams takers is that you must:

  • review your resource weight for the 2 topics, namely Corporate Finance and Derivatives, which had one reading taken out.
  • reconsider the Alternative Investment reading, as the material has been entirely reworked.
  • renew your interest in the world of Corporate Governance and the Triple Bottom Line.
  • analyse the trends in the new EOC questions and inculcate that while working on sample and mock exams questions.
  • plus ....

YOUR COACH: Irshad JACKARIA: BCom [Hons], DInv, MSc, MCIPS, CFA

Irshad will guide you through the above changes and make sure that your focus is right, your time management is adequate and your preparation is pinpointed.

CFA: A DIFFERENCE THAT MATTERS™

Â