Amidst various professional degrees in the Investment sector, the one with the gold standard is CFA® (Chartered Financial Analyst®), provided by CFA Institute. If you are a CFA aspirant looking for a CFA coaching or classes to help you ace the exam, then this guide is the ultimate solution for you.

About the CFA Exam

CFA® is one of the strenuous programs rendering excellence in investment management. Each level requires 300 hours of training, as suggested by the institution. The examination is computer-based, and each level has been divided into two sessions. The exam is costly in terms of time besides the amount needed for registration, enrollment, and preparation.

Thus, we sorted out the best five Prep Providers on the basis of factors like coverage of syllabus, faculty qualification, cost of preparation, resources, material quality, and guarantee taken by the provider.

Best 6 Online CFA Exam Prep Providers are as follows-

QuintEdge

QuintEdge has the most unique offering for CFA preparation amongst the lot of top prep providers. Their motto is to teach finance Intuitively – and they follow this methodology in all of their courses, be it CFA or FRM. They top our list of online CFA prep providers due to this very reason.

Success Rate

The institution claims a success rate of 88%, which is the highest amongst the lot. Our survey persuades that effective and simplistic methods provided by the experts are the foremost cause for the successful outcome of the students.

Faculty

All the faculties are industry experts, with ample experience in teaching this subject. CA Yash Jain is the lead instructor of the course at the institute. He has experience of almost a decade in teaching industry. He also holds a vast industry experience in Valuations, Corporate Finance, Financial Modeling and Equity Research.

Fees

Two different plans offered by Quintedge are-

• Online self-paced Program (Level I – $245, Level II – $268): Includes 150+ hours of videos, with access until the clearance of exam, solution bank of 1000+ questions, exam planner with mock tests, and unlimited doubt sessions.
• Instructor-led Live Classes (Level I – $305, Level II – $330): The duration of this program is 4 months with 200+ hours of Live classes on weekends, including everything in the Self Paced Program.

This provider is in our list because of its high success rate, practical teaching methodology and the experience of Faculties in Investment banking industry

Bloomberg Exam Prep

Bloomberg Exam Prep is an online learning platform for the CFA® program aspirants. We suggest this since it students using this Prep Course tend to save more than 130 hours on average compared to the actual 300 hours dedicated to each level as directed by the institute.

Success Rate

The Prep Provider claims a past success rate of above 80%. Also, it provides pass assurance to the students. In addition, if a student fails to clear the level they are eligible to get full refund (only if they’ve completed 95% of the course at Bloomberg).

Faculty

All Instructors are CFA Charterholders with eminence in their career and marketplace. Their lead faculty Dr. Aaron Johnson, CFA teaches specialized finance courses in renowned universities in US and Europe.

Fees

The course offers three types of plans for students. They differ in terms of the requirement of the material and assistance a student might need. These Packages are to be bought separately for each level.

• Essential Package ($699) – Video Lectures, notes, question bank, 20 ask-a-tutor questions, and 7-full exams.
• Premium Package ($1,199) – Video Lectures, notes, question bank, 80 ask-a-tutor questions, and 8-full exams.
• Ultimate Package ($1,999) – Video Lectures, notes, question bank, unlimited ask-a-tutor questions, 8-full exams, and 5-private tutoring sessions.

This provider is in our list because of its high success rate, less preparation duration and pass assurance.

Wiley

Wiley is the largest online platform for CFA® Program Learning. We suggest Wiley to our audience because it provides wide-ranging resources with personalized course platform.

Success rate

Not disclosed by the institute. However, the students have material access until they pass the exam

Faculty

The Faculty is CFA Charterholders with a rich experience in core finance profiles such as corporate finance, Investment Banking and capital raising. Their Lead Faculties – Peter Olinto and David Hetherington have 20 and 30 years of teaching experience respectively.

Fees

The packages have been divided into three categories for each level. With the categories, we are mentioning the features under each pack.

• Self-Study Course ($645) – includes Exam Planner and Personalized Study Schedule, course outlines, 1000s of practice questions, and 2-full-length mock exams.
• Gold Course ($995) – includes all of the resources of the self-study course, and in addition to that- live virtual online classes, 90+ hours of video lectures, downloadable flashcards, and Bootcamps.
• Platinum Course ($1,095) – includes everything in a Gold Course and in addition it provides 11th- hour final review mock exam, review guide, review course with 27+ hours of lecture videos, mock exams and Online mentoring.

This institute is in our list because of highest Faculty experience, flexible study packs and a personalized study platform.

Kaplan Schweser

For the past 30 years, the Schweser prep course has been bestowing great material to the CFA® Program students worldwide. The authenticity of the material provided is to such an extent that many other prep providers distribute their material for preparation, involving the CFA Society in New York.

Success Rate

The pass percentage of the students is not disclosed by the Institute. However, the institute claims that 97% of the students recommend the course, on the basis of their internal survey.

Faculty

Their Faculty team consists of a network of more than 60 CFA Charterholders with relevant industry experience. Their lead instructor Dr. R. Douglas Van Eaton has more than two decades of experience in teaching. He has also published articles in many famous academic and professional journals.

Fees

Two budget-friendly packs are introduced for the students which include a plethora of features and materials.

• Essential Package ($699) – includes instructor link, jumpstart, activity feed, checkpoint exams, 4 Mock exams, quick sheet, Schweser notes, videos, and question bank.
• Premium Package ($999) – includes all of the features of the essential package, and in addition to that, it offers On-Demand Class, an On-Demand review workshop, and Schweser’s Secret Sauce.

It brings forth print, online, and mobile study tools. It is a student-friendly course as it distributes the 300 average hours weekly.

Kaplan Schweser is in our list because of its huge expert network, high credibility and recommendation rate.

IFT

We selected IFT after considering the amount some students might not be able to pay for other Prep Courses besides having a student-friendly budget this course provider has a wide range of material dispensed in the form of video and online classes.

Success Rate

Not Disclosed by the institute. However, It provides pass protection to Premium Package buyers i.e. they get free access to all the material in case they are not able to pass it.

Faculty

The instructor is a CFA Charterholder and holds an MBA degree from Booth School of Business, an Ivey league college. He has also been senior leader (Finance role) at Mindtree and oracle, with 13 years of teaching experience.

Fees

The Prep Provider presents three types of packages within suitable price ranges. The price range for each level varies.

• Basic – $175 (Level I), $419 (Level II), $425 (Level III) – includes video lectures, slides, lecture quiz, summary, and reading test.
• Basic Plus – $299 (Level I), $525 (Level II), $550 (Level III) – includes Basic package features, and in addition to that- videos, study notes, question banks, and topic exams.
• Premium – $555 (Level I), $749 (Level II), $825 (Level III) – includes features of Basic Plus and other features like formula sheet, instructor Q&A, high-yield course, and mock exams.

The institute offers free access to video lectures of various levels of CFA on its website. You can check them on their free stuff section.

IFT is in our list because of budget friendly study material, Pass protection and high instructor credibility.

Miles Education

Miles Education is one of India’s fastest-growing higher edtech companies. Their mission is to upskill students and professionals to help them be future-ready and enable their career progression. They are providing CFA coaching in collaboration with Kaplan Schweser, the leading global provider of financial education in an effort to provide their students with the best training possible.

Success rate

The Institute Doesn’t claim any success rate

Faculty

The instructors at Miles Education in collaboration with Kaplan Schweser are highly qualified and experienced professionals with a deep understanding of the finance industry. Many of them hold advanced degrees in finance, accounting, or business, have earned professional designations such as the CFA, FRM, or CAIA, and have multiple years of teaching in the industry.

Fees

The fee for every level is the same at INR 40,800 which includes Kaplan Schweser Study Material

This institute is in our list due to it’s highly qualified faculty and authentic study material.

Poll Results

Conclusion

The very fact that the CFA coaching industry is a perfect market and not a monopoly states that no coaching institute is perfect. It would entirely depend on the teaching pattern of the institute and what is suitable for the student.

Most of the CFA Coaching institutes have a video lecture or two available on the internet that can give you a flavor of their teaching pattern/style.

An ideal way would be to watch their available videos or talk to the faculty if they are available and decide your instructors for your FRM exam accordingly. All the very best for your CFA endeavor!

Frequently Asked Questions