CFA by MidhaFin

Tag: CFA foundation topics

  • Do I Need a Finance Background for pursuing CFA ?

    Do I Need a Finance Background for pursuing CFA ?

    Introduction

    Every year, thousands of candidates from engineering, economics, mathematics, and even the arts begin their CFA journey. Many share the same concern: Can I do this if I don’t have a finance background?

    It is a fair question. The CFA curriculum looks intimidating at first glance. Terms like “equity valuation,” “portfolio optimization,” or “derivative pricing” can sound foreign to someone outside finance. Yet the truth is simple. A finance degree helps, but it is not a requirement. What matters most is your ability to learn systematically, think analytically, and stay consistent.

    The CFA program is designed for a global audience. It assumes that not every candidate starts with formal finance education. The curriculum builds your knowledge layer by layer, from the basics of money and time value to advanced portfolio management.

    Let’s unpack what that really means in practice.

    Understanding the CFA Curriculum

    The CFA Institute structures the curriculum around three progressive levels. Each level deepens your understanding but begins with clear, defined fundamentals.

    Level I – Building the Foundation

    Level I introduces you to the language of finance. You learn how markets work, what financial statements show, and how analysts interpret them.

    Key subjects include:

    • Quantitative Methods: Basic statistics, probability, and time value of money.
    • Financial Reporting and Analysis: Understanding income statements, balance sheets, and cash flow.
    • Ethics and Professional Standards: The backbone of the CFA program.
    • Economics and Corporate Finance: Core principles applied to investment decisions.

    A non-finance candidate can learn these with discipline and the right resources. Nothing here requires prior accounting or trading experience. You just need to approach each topic as a structured problem, not as jargon to memorize.

    Level II and III – Application and Integration

    Level II moves into valuation, asset classes, and analytical techniques. Level III focuses on portfolio management and client strategies.

    By the time you reach these levels, you will already have enough context to connect the dots. The progression feels natural if your foundations are clear. This design is intentional — the CFA Institute wants candidates from diverse academic backgrounds to succeed.

    The Real Prerequisites: Curiosity and Consistency

    What truly predicts success is not a finance degree. It is the willingness to learn consistently over time.

    • Curiosity helps you question why a concept matters. When you study risk-adjusted returns, do not stop at the formula. Ask what it means in a real portfolio.
    • Consistency keeps you on track. The CFA program rewards steady progress more than bursts of last-minute effort.

    Most successful candidates treat CFA preparation like a long-term project. They plan 250–300 study hours per level, review regularly, and practice actively. This discipline levels the field between finance and non-finance backgrounds.

    What to Expect If You Are Not from Finance

    You will likely face three early challenges.

    1. Unfamiliar Terminology

    Words like “yield curve,” “accruals,” or “beta” may appear confusing. Do not rush through them. Build a quick glossary as you study. Once you use these terms in examples and practice questions, they will stick naturally.

    2. Accounting Concepts

    Many candidates find accounting to be the toughest subject initially. Focus on the logic rather than the format. Learn how transactions flow through financial statements. If possible, watch short explainer videos or attend structured sessions that connect accounting to business reality.

    3. Quantitative Methods

    The math is not advanced, but it requires attention to detail. You will deal with statistics, discounting, and probability. Use spreadsheets to practice calculations and visualise what formulas do. Once you see how the numbers behave, the fear of formulas fades.

    How to Bridge the Knowledge Gap

    Here are some practical steps to build comfort quickly.

    1. Start Early with the Basics
       Spend the first few weeks understanding financial statements and time value of money. These two topics are used everywhere in the CFA curriculum.
    2. Use the Right Study Order
       If you are a beginner, do not start with Derivatives or Fixed Income. Begin with Ethics, Quantitative Methods, and Financial Reporting. That sequence builds a strong foundation.
    3. Focus on Understanding, Not Memorization
       Ask “why” behind every formula. For instance, why does compounding matter? Why is discount rate linked to risk? This habit converts facts into intuition.
    4. Join a Study Group or Mentorship Program
       Interaction speeds up learning. When you explain a topic to others, you identify your own gaps. MidhaFin’s study groups and doubt-clearing sessions are excellent for this.
    5. Regularly Practice Questions
       Conceptual clarity grows through application. After every topic, solve 15-20 questions. Review explanations carefully. The CFA exam rewards reasoning, not memorized answers.
    6. Link Finance to Real-World News
       Read market summaries or company reports occasionally. You will begin to connect theory to practice, which is the essence of becoming a finance professional.

    How Candidates from Non-Finance Backgrounds Perform

    Interestingly, the CFA Institute’s own data shows that many successful candidates come from non-finance backgrounds, particularly engineering and economics.

    Why? Because analytical thinking and problem-solving matter more than prior subject exposure. Engineers, mathematicians, and statisticians often find the quantitative parts intuitive. Those from commerce or business degrees may grasp accounting faster. Each background has strengths.

    The CFA program equalises the rest. Over time, everyone builds a balanced understanding across ethics, economics, analysis, and portfolio management.

    The Value of a Non-Finance Perspective

    There is also an advantage to entering CFA without formal finance education. You approach topics with fresh logic instead of assumptions.

    For instance:

    • An engineer studying portfolio optimization sees it as a systems problem of risk and return.
    • An economist views market cycles through data relationships.
    • A computer science graduate may see quantitative finance as an extension of algorithms.

    These diverse approaches enrich your understanding. Modern finance values multidisciplinary thinking, which includes the ability to apply logic, statistics, and technology together.

    What You Gain from the CFA Journey

    Regardless of your background, the CFA program builds the same core skill set:

    • Ethical and professional reasoning.
    • Financial analysis and interpretation.
    • Understanding of global investment markets.
    • Ability to communicate financial insight clearly.

    These are transferable skills. Whether you become a portfolio analyst, risk manager, consultant, or entrepreneur, this foundation adds credibility and structure to your decision-making.

    Final Takeaway

    You do not need a finance background to pursue the CFA charter. You need persistence, curiosity, and a clear study plan.

    Think of the CFA journey as a bridge from where you are to where you want to be. The early steps may feel steep, but every topic builds on the last. Within months, you start thinking like an analyst. The transformation from learning terms to applying logic makes the CFA experience truly rewarding.

    Stay patient, stay structured, and stay curious. The finance background can wait. The mindset cannot.

  • Making Sense of CFA Level 1 Pre-Readings: What You Should Actually Do

    Making Sense of CFA Level 1 Pre-Readings: What You Should Actually Do

    Preparing for the CFA Level 1 exam often comes with a question that confuses many students:

    Should you study the pre-readings that appear before the main curriculum? 

    These short readings are meant to introduce key ideas in Economics, Quantitative Methods, and Financial Statement Analysis.

    Let us understand what they really mean, why they exist, and how to deal with them in a practical way.

    Understanding the Purpose of Pre-Readings

    The CFA Institute has recently reorganized the Level 1 syllabus to make it more efficient. Some of the older introductory lessons have been separated from the main modules and placed in a section called pre-readings.

    Their goal is simple: to prepare candidates with the basic knowledge required before starting the core material.

    The pre-readings include the following::

    • Quantitative Methods: Basic statistics, probability, and numerical tools
    • Economics: Key ideas in microeconomics and macroeconomics
    • Financial Statement Analysis: Structure and meaning of income statements, balance sheets, and cash flow statements

    These topics act as the entry gate to the larger curriculum. But the real question is:  

    Should you spend time reading them all?

    Are Pre-Readings Worth Your Time?

    The CFA Institute suggests that most candidates are already familiar with the material. That might be true for some, but not for everyone.

    If you have been away from academics for a few years, or if your degree was not in finance, some of these ideas might not feel as fresh. Going straight into the main syllabus without revisiting them can make the learning curve steeper.

    So, even if the pre-readings are not directly tested, they still influence how well you understand what follows. Think of them as the foundation on which the entire Level 1 syllabus stands.

    How to Approach Them Without Wasting Time

    Not every candidate needs to go through every page. What works better is a filtered, topic-by-topic review.

    Here is a structured plan:

    1. Get a quick overview.
       Read the chapter introductions and sub-headings to understand what each section covers.
    2. Mark your comfort zones.
       Identify areas that look familiar. For example, if you have used accounting statements regularly, you might not need to study all of FSA in detail.
    3. Focus on weak points.
       Spend time only on parts that seem unfamiliar or unclear. This selective study method helps you save time while reinforcing areas that matter.

    If you have ample time before the exam, you can dedicate around two weeks per section. If you are on a tighter timeline, a few focused study sessions per area will still be effective.

    Key Areas That Deserve Extra Attention

    Some topics in the pre-readings create the base for many later chapters. You can use the following checklist to stay focused:

    • Quantitative Methods: Concentrate on descriptive statistics, measures of dispersion, and probability. These ideas return again in regression, correlation, and risk analysis.
    • Economics: Refresh your understanding of demand and supply, market types, inflation, and economic growth indicators.
    • Financial Statement Analysis: Ensure you can interpret how the three financial statements connect. Knowing how numbers move between income, cash flow, and balance sheets saves time later.

    The MidhaFin View: Study Smart, Not Twice

    At MidhaFin, we strongly believe that you do not need to study everything twice. If a topic covered in the pre-readings appears again later in the curriculum, and is explained there in full, then you can safely cover it once, in detail, during the main study.

    This approach forms the base of how we design our study material and video lessons. Our goal is not to overload students with repetitive theory but to guide them through a logical sequence of learning.

    For example, if Financial Ratios are introduced briefly in the pre-readings and then taught extensively in the FSA section, it is more efficient to learn them properly when you reach that chapter. By doing so, you spend your effort where it adds the most value instead of revisiting the same ideas multiple times.

    This mindset not only saves time but also builds stronger conceptual links between topics. In CFA preparation, efficiency is just as important as effort.

    Why a Strong Foundation Still Matters

    Even though pre-readings are not tested directly, they shape how smoothly you move through the rest of the material. Students who skip them entirely often need to pause later to fill in missing basics, which breaks study flow.

    Instead, treat them as a warm-up round. Review them quickly, fill knowledge gaps, and then move to the core chapters with confidence. Remember that CFA Level 1 is not about memorizing every line; it is about understanding how financial concepts connect.

    A Balanced Strategy for Success

    Here is a simple rule:

    • If a concept is completely new to you, study it now.
    • If you already know it, just refresh it briefly.
    • If it will be covered again in depth later, combine the learning and handle it once.

    This three-step thinking helps you stay efficient without missing key knowledge.

    In our MidhaFin learning framework, this balance is built into the study plan. Every topic connects to the next in a natural order so that you keep moving forward without confusion or overlap.

    Closing Thoughts

    Pre-readings might look like optional reading material, but they play an important role in shaping your confidence for the CFA Level 1 exam. They ensure that when you reach complex parts of the syllabus, you do not get stuck on concepts that should have been clear earlier.

    Treat them as the foundation, not as an extra burden. Study them with purpose, connect them with your main lessons, and always think about how each topic fits into the bigger picture of finance and investment analysis.