CFA Program Curriculum 2018 Level I: Volumes 1 – 6 Box Set(CFA Curriculum 2018)

Clear, concise instruction for all CFA Level I concepts and competencies for the 2018 exam The same official curricula that CFA Program candidates receive with program registration is now publicly available for purchase. CFA Program Curriculum 2018 Level I, Volumes 1-6 provides the complete Level I Curriculum for the 2018 exam, delivering the Candidate Body of Knowledge (CBOK) with expert instruction on all 10 topic areas of the CFA Program. Fundamental concepts are explained in-depth with a heavily visual style, while cases and examples demonstrate how concepts apply in real-world scenarios. Coverage includes ethical and professional standards, quantitative analysis, economics, financial reporting and analysis, corporate finance, equities, fixed income, derivatives, alternative investments, and portfolio management, all organized into individual sessions with clearly defined Learning Outcome Statements. Charts, graphs, figures, diagrams, and financial statements illustrate concepts to facilitate retention, and practice questions provide the opportunity to gauge your understanding while reinforcing important concepts. Learning Outcome Statement checklists guide readers to important concepts to derive from the readings Embedded case studies and examples throughout demonstrate practical application of concepts Figures, diagrams, and additional commentary make difficult concepts accessible Practice problems support learning and retention CFA Institute promotes the highest standards of ethics, education, and professional excellence among investment professionals. The CFA Program Curriculum guides you through the breadth of knowledge required to uphold these standards.The three levels of the program build on each other. Level I provides foundational knowledge and teaches the use of investment tools; Level II focuses on application of concepts and analysis, particularly in the valuation of assets; and Level III builds toward synthesis across topics with an emphasis on portfolio management.

Table of Contents:
How to Use the CFA Program Curriculum ix Curriculum Development Process ix Organization of the Curriculum x Features of the Curriculum x Designing Your Personal Study Program xii Feedback xiii Ethical and Professional Standards Study Session 1 Ethical and Professional Standards 3 Reading 1 Ethics and Trust in the Investment Profession 5 Introduction 5 Ethics 6 Ethics and Professionalism 9 Challenges to Ethical Conduct 11 The Importance of Ethical Conduct in the Investment Industry 15 Ethical vs. Legal Standards 17 Ethical Decision-Making Frameworks 20 Applying the Framework 22 Conclusion 27 Summary 28 Practice Problems 29 Solutions 30 Reading 2 Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct 33 Preface 33 Evolution of the CFA Institute Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct 34 Standards of Practice Handbook 34 Summary of Changes in the Eleventh Edition 35 CFA Institute Professional Conduct Program 37 Adoption of the Code and Standards 38 Acknowledgments 38 Ethics and the Investment Industry 39 Why Ethics Matters 39 CFA Institute Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct 43 Preamble 43 The Code of Ethics 44 Standards of Professional Conduct 44 Reading 3 Guidance for Standards I–VII 49 Standard I: Professionalism 49 Standard I(A) Knowledge of the Law 49 Guidance 49 Recommended Procedures for Compliance 54 Application of the Standard 55 Standard I(B) Independence and Objectivity 58 Guidance 58 Recommended Procedures for Compliance 63 Application of the Standard 64 Standard I(C) Misrepresentation 71 Guidance 71 Recommended Procedures for Compliance 74 Application of the Standard 76 Standard I(D) Misconduct 81 Guidance 81 Recommended Procedures for Compliance 82 Application of the Standard 82 Standard II: Integrity of Capital Markets 84 Standard II(A) Material Nonpublic Information 84 Guidance 84 Recommended Procedures for Compliance 88 Application of the Standard 91 Standard II(B) Market Manipulation 96 Guidance 96 Application of the Standard 97 Standard III: Duties to Clients 101 Standard III(A) Loyalty, Prudence, and Care 101 Guidance 101 Recommended Procedures for Compliance 105 Application of the Standard 106 Standard III(B) Fair Dealing 110 Guidance 110 Recommended Procedures for Compliance 112 Application of the Standard 114 Standard III(C) Suitability 118 Guidance 118 Recommended Procedures for Compliance 121 Application of the Standard 122 Standard III(D) Performance Presentation 125 Guidance 125 Recommended Procedures for Compliance 126 Application of the Standard 126 Standard III(E) Preservation of Confidentiality 129 Guidance 129 Recommended Procedures for Compliance 131 Application of the Standard 131 Standard IV: Duties to Employers 133 Standard IV(A) Loyalty 133 Guidance 133 Recommended Procedures for Compliance 137 Application of the Standard 137 Standard IV(B) Additional Compensation Arrangements 144 Guidance 144 Recommended Procedures for Compliance 144 Application of the Standard 144 Standard IV(C) Responsibilities of Supervisors 146 Guidance 146 Recommended Procedures for Compliance 148 Application of the Standard 150 Standard V: Investment Analysis, Recommendations, and Actions 154 Standard V(A) Diligence and Reasonable Basis 154 Guidance 154 Recommended Procedures for Compliance 158 Application of the Standard 158 Standard V(B) Communication with Clients and Prospective Clients 165 Guidance 166 Recommended Procedures for Compliance 168 Application of the Standard 169 Standard V(C) Record Retention 174 Guidance 174 Recommended Procedures for Compliance 175 Application of the Standard 176 Standard VI: Conflicts of Interest 177 Standard VI(A) Disclosure of Conflicts 177 Guidance 177 Recommended Procedures for Compliance 180 Application of the Standard 180 Standard VI(B) Priority of Transactions 185 Guidance 185 Recommended Procedures for Compliance 186 Application of the Standard 188 Standard VI(C) Referral Fees 190 Guidance 190 Recommended Procedures for Compliance 190 Application of the Standard 190 Standard VII: Responsibilities as a CFA Institute Member or CFA Candidate 193 Standard VII(A) Conduct as Participants in CFA Institute Programs 193 Guidance 193 Application of the Standard 195 Standard VII(B) Reference to CFA Institute, the CFA Designation, and the CFA Program 198 Guidance 198 Recommended Procedures for Compliance 202 Application of the Standard 202 Practice Problems 205 Solutions 215 Reading 4 Introduction to the Global Investment Performance Standards (GIPS®) 223 Why Were the GIPS Standards Created? 223 Who Can Claim Compliance? 224 Who Benefits from Compliance? 224 Composites 225 Verification 225 The Structure of the GIPS Standards 226 Reading 5 The GIPS Standards 227 Preface 227 History 228 Introduction 229 Preamble—Why Is a Global Investment Performance Standard Needed? 229 Objectives 229 Overview 230 Historical Performance Record 230 Compliance 231 Effective Date 231 Implementing a Global Standard 231 Sponsors 232 Provisions of the Global Investment Performance Standards 233 Fundamentals of Compliance 235 Input Data 237 Calculation Methodology 237 Composite Construction 238 Disclosure 239 Presentation and Reporting 242 Real Estate 244 Private Equity 249 Wrap Fee/Separately Managed Account (SMA) Portfolios 252 GIPS Valuation Principles 254 Fair Value Definition 254 Valuation Requirements 255 Valuation Recommendations 256 GIPS Advertising Guidelines 258 Purpose of the GIPS Advertising Guidelines 258 Requirements of the GIPS Advertising Guidelines 258 Verification 260 Scope and Purpose of Verification 260 Required Verification Procedures 261 Performance Examinations 264 GIPS Glossary 264 Appendix A: Sample Compliant Presentations 274 Appendix B: Sample Advertisements 291 Appendix C: Sample List of Composite Descriptions 294 Practice Problems 298 Solutions 299 Quantitative Methods Study Session 2 Quantitative Methods: Basic Concepts 303 Reading 6 The Time Value of Money 305 Introduction 305 Interest Rates: Interpretation 306 The Future Value of a Single Cash Flow 308 The Frequency of Compounding 312 Continuous Compounding 314 Stated and Effective Rates 315 The Future Value of a Series of Cash Flows 316 Equal Cash Flows—Ordinary Annuity 317 Unequal Cash Flows 318 The Present Value of a Single Cash Flow 319 Finding the Present Value of a Single Cash Flow 319 The Frequency of Compounding 321 The Present Value of a Series of Cash Flows 322 The Present Value of a Series of Equal Cash Flows 322 The Present Value of an Infinite Series of Equal Cash Flows—Perpetuity 327 Present Values Indexed at Times Other than t = 0 328 The Present Value of a Series of Unequal Cash Flows 330 Solving for Rates, Number of Periods, or Size of Annuity Payments 330 Solving for Interest Rates and Growth Rates 331 Solving for the Number of Periods 333 Solving for the Size of Annuity Payments 334 Review of Present and Future Value Equivalence 338 The Cash Flow Additivity Principle 340 Summary 341 Practice Problems 342 Solutions 347 Reading 7 Discounted Cash Flow Applications 361 Introduction 361 Net Present Value and Internal Rate of Return 362 Net Present Value and the Net Present Value Rule 362 The Internal Rate of Return and the Internal Rate of Return Rule 364 Problems with the IRR Rule 367 Portfolio Return Measurement 369 Money-Weighted Rate of Return 370 Time-Weighted Rate of Return 371 Money Market Yields 376 Summary 381 Practice Problems 383 Solutions 386 Reading 8 Statistical Concepts and Market Returns 389 Introduction 390 Some Fundamental Concepts 390 The Nature of Statistics 391 Populations and Samples 391 Measurement Scales 392 Summarizing Data Using Frequency Distributions 393 The Graphic Presentation of Data 401 The Histogram 402 The Frequency Polygon and the Cumulative Frequency Distribution 403 Measures of Central Tendency 406 The Arithmetic Mean 406 The Median 411 The Mode 413 Other Concepts of Mean 414 Other Measures of Location: Quantiles 423 Quartiles, Quintiles, Deciles, and Percentiles 423 Quantiles in Investment Practice 427 Measures of Dispersion 430 The Range 431 The Mean Absolute Deviation 431 Population Variance and Population Standard Deviation 433 Sample Variance and Sample Standard Deviation 436 Semivariance, Semideviation, and Related Concepts 439 Chebyshev’s Inequality 441 Coefficient of Variation 443 The Sharpe Ratio 445 Symmetry and Skewness in Return Distributions 448 Kurtosis in Return Distributions 454 Using Geometric and Arithmetic Means 458 Summary 460 Practice Problems 463 Solutions 470 Reading 9 Probability Concepts 475 Introduction 476 Probability, Expected Value, and Variance 476 Portfolio Expected Return and Variance of Return 498 Topics in Probability 506 Bayes’ Formula 506 Principles of Counting 510 Summary 514 Practice Problems 517 Solutions 521 Study Session 3 Quantitative Methods: Application 525 Reading 10 Common Probability Distributions 527 Introduction to Common Probability Distributions 528 Discrete Random Variables 529 The Discrete Uniform Distribution 530 The Binomial Distribution 532 Continuous Random Variables 541 Continuous Uniform Distribution 542 The Normal Distribution 545 Applications of the Normal Distribution 551 The Lognormal Distribution 553 Monte Carlo Simulation 559 Summary 565 Practice Problems 568 Solutions 575 Reading 11 Sampling and Estimation 583 Introduction 584 Sampling 584 Simple Random Sampling 584 Stratified Random Sampling 586 Time-Series and Cross-Sectional Data 587 Distribution of the Sample Mean 590 The Central Limit Theorem 590 Point and Interval Estimates of the Population Mean 593 Point Estimators 593 Confidence Intervals for the Population Mean 595 Selection of Sample Size 601 More on Sampling 603 Data-Mining Bias 603 Sample Selection Bias 606 Look-Ahead Bias 607 Time-Period Bias 607 Summary 609 Practice Problems 612 Solutions 617 Reading 12 Hypothesis Testing 623 Introduction 624 Hypothesis Testing 625 Hypothesis Tests Concerning the Mean 634 Tests Concerning a Single Mean 634 Tests Concerning Differences between Means 642 Tests Concerning Mean Differences 646 Hypothesis Tests Concerning Variance 650 Tests Concerning a Single Variance 650 Tests Concerning the Equality (Inequality) of Two Variances 652 Other Issues: Nonparametric Inference 656 Tests Concerning Correlation: The Spearman Rank Correlation Coefficient 657 Nonparametric Inference: Summary 660 Summary 660 Practice Problems 664 Solutions 672 Reading 13 Technical Analysis 679 Introduction 679 Technical Analysis: Definition and Scope 680 Principles and Assumptions 680 Technical and Fundamental Analysis 682 Technical Analysis Tools 684 Charts 684 Trend 693 Chart Patterns 696 Technical Indicators 707 Cycles 724 Elliott Wave Theory 725 Intermarket Analysis 728 Summary 730 Practice Problems 733 Solutions 738 Appendices 741 Glossary G-1 Index I-1

About the Author :
CFA Institute is a global association of investment professionals. The organization offers the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation, the Certificate in Investment Performance Measurement (CIPM) designation, and the Claritas Investment Certificate. It provides continuing education conferences, seminars, webcasts, and publications to allow members and other participants to stay current on developments in the investment industry.