CFA® Level I · 2027 curriculum
Fixed Income for CFA® Level I
Fixed Income explains how debt securities are structured, issued, valued and analysed, and how investors assess their yields, interest-rate exposure, credit risk and securitised cash flows.
Free diagnostic • 20 questions • No payment details required
What this topic covers
Fixed Income covers the debt instruments used by companies, governments and financial institutions to raise funding and by investors to generate income and manage risk. You will move from bond features and market structure through pricing, yield measures and the term structure of interest rates, before analysing duration, convexity and credit risk. The topic finishes with securitisation, asset-backed securities and mortgage-backed securities.
By the end of this topic you should be able to:
- Recognise bond features, cash-flow structures, covenants and major issuance markets.
- Value bonds and interpret prices, yields, spreads and term-structure relationships.
- Measure interest-rate exposure using duration, convexity and curve-based risk measures.
- Assess credit risk for corporate, sovereign and other public-sector issuers.
- Understand securitisation structures, ABS, MBS, tranching and mortgage prepayment risk.
How the topic is structured
The topic follows the life of a fixed-income investment. First, understand what the instrument promises and how it reaches the market. Next, learn how cash flows translate into prices, yields and term-structure relationships. Then examine how changing rates affect returns and prices using duration and convexity. Credit analysis adds the risk that promised payments may not be made in full. The final section shows how pools of underlying assets can be transformed into securitised instruments with different cash-flow and risk profiles.
Practice in Cliro
How you practice Fixed Income in Cliro
Practice by topic
Work through this topic on its own, or include it in a mixed session across the curriculum.
Detailed explanations
See why the correct answer works after every practice question.
Review and mistakes
The mistake log keeps incorrectly answered questions easy to revisit. Review brings due concepts back after time has passed.
Formula Gym and progress
Recall key formulas without prompts and track progress by topic and concept.
Exam Pass and Monthly both include the two full mock exams.
See what is includedWhere Cliro fits
Use Cliro at any stage of your Level I preparation.
Starting Level I
Take the free diagnostic, then practice by topic. Your results build a picture of where you stand across all ten topics.
Retaking Level I
Your diagnostic and practice results show which concepts are still weak. The mistake log keeps incorrectly answered questions easy to revisit, and Review brings due concepts back after time has passed.
Alongside your existing materials
Cliro is designed to work alongside your core reading materials, adding question practice, mock exams, Formula Gym, review and progress tracking.
Other Level I topics
Start with a clear picture of where you stand.
The free diagnostic gives you an initial topic profile. Upgrade when you want the full Question Bank, mock exams and Formula Gym.
Free diagnostic • 20 questions • No payment details required