I'm completley confused about statistics and probability right now, but I am going to take the college course in May. I was thinking about skipping it and going straight to economics. are these learning objectives a prerequisite for anything else in the exam? If I skip it for now will it come back and haunt me in economics or finance? thanks in advance
statistics question
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johnnykarate
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- Jun 18, 2026
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Quant comes back in PM. You should know it cold = 15% of exam...big chunk
Stalla summarized quant much better in my opinion that CFA texts.
Stalla summarized quant much better in my opinion that CFA texts.
jamespucyk
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- Jun 18, 2026
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Stats is pretty detailed, but you don't need to know that much I.e. regression and hypothesis testing. This material is really covered in depth 2 & 3, so you do need a good grasp of the basics of stats.
To get through level 1, non quant material, you need to know, at a minimum:
1) Standard Deviation (Variance)
2) Mean and Expected Mean
3) Basic Probability
4) Correlation (And implicitly covariance)
5) Coefficient of Variation
6) How to apply a regression formula in estimating a dependant variable.
Now the first 3 will definatly show up, in fact most of basic finance risk analysis is based upon Standard deviation and for porfolio management you need to know a few things about that. Correlation and covariance will show up, most likely in the form of a question on diversification, so you do need to know they function mathematically and practically and 5 and 6 are not that tough, but may show up on an application question.
I would suggest at least getting an intro stats course under your belt and maybe something to do with regression, stats can be overwhelming if you don't have a course under your belt, but a piece of cake if you've done multi-variable regession
.
To get through level 1, non quant material, you need to know, at a minimum:
1) Standard Deviation (Variance)
2) Mean and Expected Mean
3) Basic Probability
4) Correlation (And implicitly covariance)
5) Coefficient of Variation
6) How to apply a regression formula in estimating a dependant variable.
Now the first 3 will definatly show up, in fact most of basic finance risk analysis is based upon Standard deviation and for porfolio management you need to know a few things about that. Correlation and covariance will show up, most likely in the form of a question on diversification, so you do need to know they function mathematically and practically and 5 and 6 are not that tough, but may show up on an application question.
I would suggest at least getting an intro stats course under your belt and maybe something to do with regression, stats can be overwhelming if you don't have a course under your belt, but a piece of cake if you've done multi-variable regession
.You definately need to know everything in the posting above by james. But, I would like to add a few things.
1) The difficulty of the quant questions on the actual exam are pretty easy. I felt that FSA was much more difficult than the questions in the Schweser notes. But, the quant and PM is a lot easier on the exam than in the practice books.
2) You must know 1-5 from above. But, if you are having trouble with those, then you will have big trouble with regression. In that case, I would recommend skipping regression. It probably won't be worth your time considering its weighting. When I passed Level I last June, there was not a single question on regression or related to regression. It is really a Level II focus.
Hope that helps! Good luck!
1) The difficulty of the quant questions on the actual exam are pretty easy. I felt that FSA was much more difficult than the questions in the Schweser notes. But, the quant and PM is a lot easier on the exam than in the practice books.
2) You must know 1-5 from above. But, if you are having trouble with those, then you will have big trouble with regression. In that case, I would recommend skipping regression. It probably won't be worth your time considering its weighting. When I passed Level I last June, there was not a single question on regression or related to regression. It is really a Level II focus.
Hope that helps! Good luck!