Level 1 CFA® Exam Prep Bootcamp (Part 1/2)

Learn to set up and use Texas Instruments Battoo Plus calculator, mastering basic calculations, time value of money, cash flows, depreciation, and break-even analyses for CFA, Efrem exam, or MBA.

Master basic calculations on the Texas Instruments BA II Plus calculator, including square roots, powers, reciprocals, and time value of money methods, plus memory store and recall for CFA problems.

Set up your financial calculator for CFA prep by configuring four decimal places, end-of-period payments, and one payment per period, then choose between the chain method or AOS.

Master the time value of money (TVM) worksheet, including N, i/y, PV, PMT, and FV, to solve end-of-period and beginning-of-period cash flows for loans, mortgages, and leases.

Learn to use the Texas Instruments BA II Plus calculator to compute mean, variance, and standard deviation (sample and population) for one- and two-variable data, with hands-on problems.

Learn to use the financial calculator's depreciation and break-even worksheets, applying straight-line and double declining balance methods to compute depreciation, net book value, break-even quantity, and profit targets.

Explore how a code of ethics defines a profession by outlining trust, integrity, transparency, and excellent client service in investment management under CFA Institute standards.

Explore how ethical guidelines guide decision making, the limits of codes of ethics, and how internal motivations and external environments shape ethical behavior in finance.

Distinguish ethical from legal actions, examine how laws address past unethical behavior to reduce risk, and explore ethics beyond the law in decision making.

Describe the CFA Institute Professional Conduct Program as the enforcement mechanism for the code and standards, outline its six parts and seven standards, and preview the core ethics material.

Learn how the CFA Institute enforces its code and standards through the Professional Conduct Program, including inquiries, investigations, and potential sanctions by the disciplinary review committee and the designated officer.

Explore the CFA Institute's code of ethics and standards of professional conduct, guiding members and candidates to act with integrity and place clients' interests first.

Explain the CFA Institute standard 1a knowledge of the law, detailing how to understand and comply with laws, avoid aiding violations, and dissociate from misconduct.

Maintain independence and objectivity by avoiding gifts or benefits that could influence investment judgments, disclosing compensation, and favoring flat-fee issuer-paid research to manage conflicts.

Learn about standard one c misrepresentation, covering honesty in qualifications, accuracy in performance reporting, benchmark use, and plagiarism policies to protect investor trust.

Identify how standard one misconduct forbids dishonesty, fraud, and deceit, and how a code of ethics, background checks, and disciplinary guidance uphold integrity and professional reputation.

explains the integrity of capital markets and the rule against using material non-public information, introduces the mosaic theory, and outlines compliant disclosure and firewalls to prevent distribution of non-public information.

Explore market manipulation in the integrity of capital markets standard II B, distinguishing information-based from transaction-based manipulation and the impact of intent on distorting prices and trading volumes.

Learn how standard 3D requires fair, accurate, and complete performance presentations, avoid promises of minimum returns, include all accounts, and clearly label time-weighted and money-weighted returns, with GIPS guidance.

Learn how standard 3e preserves client confidentiality for current, former, and prospective clients, including legal exceptions, money-laundering disclosures, and electronic data security.

Understand standard five B: disclose the investment process, communicate risks and limitations, and clearly label facts versus opinions across all client communications.

Identify and disclose conflicts of interest under standard six a; practice full, prominent disclosure to clients and employers, and avoid or mitigate conflicts through clear disclosures and firewalls.

Explore standard 6B priority of transactions, demanding clients’ and employers’ interests first over personal trading; define personal trading, outline conflicts, disclosures, and practices like IPOs, private placements, and blackout periods.

Disclose referral fees in writing to employers and clients before contracts; explain impact on impartiality and cost, and follow compliant procedures for approval and ongoing disclosure.

Understand standard seven eight, protecting the CFA program’s integrity. Learn about not sharing confidential exam information, following the candidate pledge, and expressing opinions without disclosing assessment content.

Define composites as groups of portfolios with the same strategy under GIPS, include all discretionary and former portfolios to avoid survivorship bias, and compute returns as an asset-weighted average.

Explore the global investment performance standards (GIPS) and how they standardize and present investment performance for fair, comparable results across firms.

Explain the relationship between present value and future value, and derive the future value formula for multiple compounding periods using the periodic rate per year.

Compare annuity due with ordinary annuity by adjusting for beginning-of-period cash flows to determine future and present values. Multiply ordinary annuity results by one plus the rate for earlier payments.

Learn to interpret net present value (NPV) by calculating the present value of cash inflows minus outflows with a discount rate. Positive NPV signals value creation for investments.

Explore how money market instruments, including pure discount T-bills, are evaluated using bank discount yield, with an example and discussion of its limitations and the move to alternatives.

Explore three alternatives to the bank discount yield: holding period yield, effective annual yield with 365-day compounding, and the money market yield on a 360-day basis.