Practice Analysis and Curriculum
Development
Mission Statement
To lead the investment
profession globally by setting
the highest standards of ethics,
education, and professional
excellence.
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The CFA® Program
A self-study, distance learning-based program
that takes a generalist approach to security
analysis and portfolio management and
emphasizes the highest ethical and professional
standards.
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The CFA® Program Cycle
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Bodies of Knowledge Based on an
Analysis of Practice
Bodies of Knowledge
Global Body of Investment KnowledgeTM
The GBIK is the comprehensive outline of knowledge for the investment
profession. Investment professionals may use GBIK concepts at any stage of
their career - novice through expert, generalist and/or specialist. The GBIK
includes mainstream and frontier concepts based on research that is still being
debated and may encompass views well outside those of the mainstream.
Candidate Body of KnowledgeTM
The CFA Program CBOK is the core knowledge, skills, and abilities
(competencies) that are generally accepted and applied by investment
professionals. These competencies are used in practice in a generalist context
and are expected to be demonstrated by a recently qualified CFA charterholder.
Specialized Bodies of Knowledge [e.g. Private Wealth, CIPM]:
These SBOK represent the knowledge, skills, and abilities (competencies) that
may be applied by investment professionals within specialty areas. SBOK can
include mainstream and frontier concepts.
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Practice Analysis: What and Why?
 Most respected authorities in education, testing and certification
recommend or require periodic practice analysis studies
 Focuses on the critical tasks performed by competent people
working in the profession
 Establishes content validity – curriculum and exams must be
linked to the knowledge and skills needed by practitioners
 Results in new GBIK & CBOK – the blueprint for curriculum and
exam content
 The only way a topic gets into the CFA Program (and eventually
tested) is if practitioners throughout the world deem it important.
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Practice Analysis Process
 2006 and Prior
 Approximately 5-year cycle
 CBOK focus
 Develop Degree of Understanding Outline and Topic Area Weights
 Foundation for Curriculum and Exam Development
 New Practice Analysis Process
 Continuous, four-phase development process
 GBIK and CBOK focus
 GBIK and CBOK updated on an annual basis
 Test specifications will continue to be updated on a multi-year cycle
 Foundation of All Educational Activities at CFA Institute
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Phase 1 of Practice Analysis Process
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Collaborative Community for Practice
Analysis/GBIKTM
 The purpose of this site is to continuously update and refine our
Global Body of Investment Knowledge (GBIK) --- a living
document.
 There are three main areas of interest:
Documents: Contains the current GBIK in hierarchical form
Discussions: Discussions about additions, deletions, improvements
or a revised structure to the GBIK
GBIK Wiki: Presents the GBIK topics in tree format
 Domain Moderators are responsible for the oversight of GBIK
topics
 EAC Working Body assigned to domain topic and provides
support to domain moderators.
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Collaborative Community for Practice
Analysis/GBIK
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Collaborative Community for Practice
Analysis/GBIKTM
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Collaborative Community for Practice
Analysis/GBIK
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Collaborative Community for Practice
Analysis/GBIK
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Collaborative Community for Practice
Analysis/GBIKTM
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Phase 2 of Practice Analysis Process
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Employer Advisory Panels
 To obtain input on industry trends to ensure that the
GBIK and CFA Program CBOK remain current
 To assist CFA Institute in better understanding
employers’ expectations regarding the competencies
and skills and abilities of investment professionals
 To learn more about how CFA Institute and the CFA
program can better serve employers’ needs
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Regional Expert Panels
 To assist CFA Institute in identifying changes
necessary to ensure that the GBIK and CFA Program
CBOK remain current
 To obtain input from a wide variety of professionals
 To ensure that the CFA Program CBOK reflects the
diversity of practice within the investment profession
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Locations of Practice Analysis Panels

New York – December 2008

Dubai – February 2009

Hong Kong – March 2009

London – October 2009

Zurich – October 2009
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Phase 3 of Practice Analysis Process
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Member Survey
Based on results from collaborative website and panel
discussions
Regionally stratified-sample to reflect membership
Over 2,000 responses with the following regional
breakdown:
 Americas
35%
 Asia Pacific
29%
 EMEA
36%
Output used by Practice Analysis Task Force to set
topic weights and specific knowledge areas
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Phase 4 of Practice Analysis Process
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The CFA® Program Cycle
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CFA Program Candidate Body of Knowledge
Ten CBOK Topic Domains
Ethical and Professional Standards
Quantitative Methods
Economics
Financial Reporting and Analysis
Corporate Finance
Equity Investments
Fixed Income
Derivatives
Alternative Investments
Portfolio Management and
Wealth Planning
Investment
Tools
Asset
Valuation
Portfolio
Management
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Curriculum
 The topic focus and learning focus differ at each level
Topic Focus
Learning Focus
Level I
Investment Tools
Ethical Standards
Knowledge
Comprehension
Level II
Asset Valuation
Ethical Standards
Application
Analysis
Level III
Portfolio Management
Ethical Standards
Synthesis
Evaluation
 The curriculum at each level is organized into 18 study sessions
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Principles of Curriculum Development
 A curriculum that is:
 Faithful to the practice analysis and CBOK
 Fair to candidates
 Valuable to members, employers, and investors
 Incorporates “best practices” in content and pedagogy
 The curriculum content should be:
 Globally relevant
 Generalist (as opposed to specialist) in nature
 Appropriate for a new charterholder
 Testable
 Authoring/selection/review processes that are extensive,
intensive, and diverse in all topic domains
 Uses both candidate time and CFA Institute resources
appropriately and effectively
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Curriculum Ground Rules
 Teach the knowledge and skills required of a generalist
 Identified in the Global Practice Analysis
 Defined by CBOK and DUO
 Select, develop and regularly review materials that:
 Are appropriate in a distance-learning environment for a global
candidate base
 Are clear and accurate
 Contain numerous examples/problems with solutions
 Avoid curriculum materials that are:
 Predominately empirical/historical in nature
 Topical (current events oriented or survey articles)
 Country specific and/or specialist in nature
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Custom Curriculum
Custom curriculum gives us flexibility to:
 Publish only readings that are required for knowledge
 Expand pedagogy (examples, questions, problems)
 Revise readings based on practice analysis
 Update examples and scenarios to current environment
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The Curriculum Team
Educational Advisory Board (EAB)
Project Consultants (PCs)
Assistant Project Consultants (APCs)
Topic Area Experts (TAEs)
Authors
Reviewers
Other Volunteers
Staff
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Challenges
 Continuous development of the Global Body of
Investment Knowledge
 Participation on collaborative website
 Panel discussions on both CFA Program Candidate
Body of Knowledge and Global Body of Investment
Knowledge simultaneously
 Integrating other specialized bodies of knowledge
 Translating into comprehensive competency
profiles/learning paths for generalists/specialists.
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Contact
To learn more about participating in the practice analysis
collaborative website and discussion forum, contact:
Carey Hare
Project Manager, Curriculum Development
CFA Institute
Phone: 1.434.951.5286
carey.hare@cfainstitute.org
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