Cr.FA study guide
Cr.FA · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The Certified Financial Analyst (Cr.FA) is an independent, vendor-neutral credential for people who analyse securities, build financial models and make or support investment decisions. It suits equity research associates, corporate finance and FP&A staff, private-wealth advisers, and graduates moving into investment roles who want a single structured demonstration of applied analytical skill rather than a narrow product certificate. The Cr.FA study guide has 9 sections and about 3,441 words.
01Ethics and Professional Standards
The ethics domain tests whether you can apply the seven Standards of Professional Conduct to facts, not whether you can recite slogans. Vignettes usually combine a conflict, a disclosure question, and a duty to one or more parties.
411 words, about 2 min02Financial Reporting and Analysis
This domain tests your ability to read the three financial statements together, adjust reported numbers for accounting choices, and judge earnings quality. Questions often ask which ratio or cash-flow line changes when a firm changes an accounting policy, or which adjustment makes two firms comparable.
405 words, about 2 min03Quantitative Methods and Financial Modeling
This domain tests time value of money, descriptive statistics, probability, sampling, hypothesis testing, and regression. Modeling questions often ask you to interpret a coefficient or decide whether a result is statistically significant, not merely to compute a number.
384 words, about 2 min04Economics and Market Environment
This domain tests microeconomics, macroeconomics, international trade, and exchange-rate behavior. Questions often ask how a policy or price change affects quantities, revenues, inflation, or currency values, so you need the transmission mechanism rather than a definition.
383 words, about 2 min05Corporate Finance and Valuation
This domain tests capital budgeting, cost of capital, capital structure, payout policy, working capital, and valuation. The exam favors questions that require you to choose the right cash flows and discount rate, then interpret the result.
382 words, about 2 min06Equity Investments and Equity Research
This domain tests market efficiency, industry analysis, dividend and free-cash-flow valuation, and relative valuation. Questions often ask whether a stock is overvalued or undervalued, or which model is appropriate given a company's dividend policy.
358 words, about 2 min07Fixed Income and Derivatives
This domain tests bond pricing, yield measures, duration and convexity, credit risk, and the pricing of forwards, futures, and options. Questions often require a price-change estimate or an arbitrage or parity check.
352 words, about 2 min08Portfolio Management and Wealth Planning
This domain tests risk aversion, portfolio construction, asset pricing, investment policy statements, and performance evaluation. Questions often ask you to compute a portfolio return or risk measure, or to identify the constraint that drives an allocation decision.
373 words, about 2 min09Alternative Investments and Risk Management
This domain tests hedge funds, private equity, real estate, infrastructure, commodities, due diligence, and risk measurement. Questions often ask how fees, illiquidity, leverage, or return smoothing distort reported performance, or how to interpret a risk metric such as VaR.
393 words, about 2 min