Last updated on January 28th, 2026 at 04:38 pm
In cfa curriculum level 1 updates, CFA claims to change or instead update its syllabus by 5% every year.Now considering that there are around 70 readings, it leads to around three readings being changed yearly.
CFA Level 1 2025 Curriculum Changes – Summary Table
| Topic Area | 2025 LMs | Changes Summary | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quantitative Methods | 11 | Minor updates; new module on Big Data Techniques added. | New focus area on modern data analysis techniques. |
| Economics | 8 | No major changes; continued focus on trade, geopolitics, and FX markets. | Well-aligned with macroeconomic fundamentals. |
| Corporate Issuers | 7 | Stable structure; emphasis remains on governance and capital structure. | Essential for understanding issuer financing decisions. |
| Financial Statement Analysis | 12 | No major changes; modeling content remains intact. | Foundational for financial analysis remains unchanged. |
| Equity | 8 | Stable; continues to cover market efficiency and forecasting techniques. | No additions or removals; consistent framework. |
| Fixed Income | 19 | Streamlined some content; emphasis on valuation, risk, and securitization. | Key for bond market understanding; more concise flow. |
| Derivatives | 10 | Minor restructuring; clearer focus on replication and pricing techniques. | Option pricing and swaps restructured for clarity. |
| Alternative Investments | 7 | Slight rearrangement; digital assets and hedge funds still featured. | Maintains broad exposure to alternative markets. |
| Portfolio Management | 6 | No change in count; focus on risk management and behavioral finance. | Core topics retained with strong application angle. |
| Ethics | 5 | Minor revisions; 1 new standard added, 2 standards updated. | Ethics strengthened with new standard and updated GIPS. |
New Learning Modules
What matters most is the introduction of new learning modules or chapters, and below is the list of new chapters added.
- Business Models- Corporate Issuers : This chapter was long overdue, I felt, considering that most of the new candidates had no background in business strategy. The chapter is almost like a mini-MBA with discussion on pricing, channel and marketing strategy.
- Corporate Structure & Ownership- Corporate Issuers: Firstly the investment market has nowadays more private funding happening, it is inevitable how ownership structures are affected by it.
- Introduction to geopolitics : I won’t have to stress why this chapter has been added, i.e. Ukraine-Russia crisis. The ripple effect of such a geo-political crisis has been witnessed by us all across the globe.
Updated Learning Modules
The following readings have been updated, we can categorize them as major and minor.
Major Changes,revision & updates
- Capital Structure- Corporate Issuers- Practical aspects of valuation introduced
- Introduction to Risk Management-Performance calculation
- Fintech in Investment Management
- Portfolio Risk & Return Part 1 & II- currency risk, New EORQs
- Introduction to Alternative Investments
- Derivative markets and instruments and pricing and valuation
- Capital Investments-Working capital- External analysts valuing a company
- Working capital- External analysts valuing a company
- Introduction to Corporate Governance-aligned with evolving practice New EORQs
Change of Nuances
CFA institute has dropped the term study session & Readings; it now simply calls it learning modules. Firstly my opinion is that this was long due to reduced the confusion with reading numbers.
Secondly, the change is for their own good, with confusion in maintaining the numeric orders. So no comments here.
Summary of Changes
To summarize cfa curriculum level 1 updates, what matters to you
- 3 New readings and plenty of revisions in the form of learning outcome statement
- Summary and refresher readings to be given to members starting September 2022.
CFA 2023 New Reading PPTs
You can access the new reading material from Mentor Me Careers in our free learning portal for CFA aspirants. Just visit the site and click on the enroll now for free.
