Passing the CFA Exam Is Tough. AI Just Did It in Minutes.

(Illustration by Elias Stein)

The three-part test to become a chartered financial analyst—and an expert in portfolio management, valuing assets, and wealth planning—is widely viewed as one of the hardest exams in finance. Enter artificial intelligence. Researchers at Goodfin, an AI-powered wealth advisory firm, and the NYU Stern School of Business recently pitted 23 AI large-language models against mock versions of the CFA Level III exam.

They aced it in minutes. The study found that many AI models comfortably achieved a passing score of 65% or above, with OpenAI’s o4-mini model leading the pack with a score of 79.1%.

Created with Highcharts 9.0.1A True TestThe percentage of people who pass the CFA, never high, has been falling. Pass RateSource: cfabenchmark.com

Created with Highcharts 9.0.12018'19'20'21'22'23'240102030405060%

The study shows how rapidly AI tools have advanced. Last year, models were able to pass the CFA’s first two levels, but Level III’s open-ended essay questions remained a challenge. Not anymore.

Top of the Class

These leading AI models scored above the CFA’s 65% passing score.

Source: Advanced Financial Reasoning at Scale: A Comprensive Examination of Large Language Models on CFA Level III

The AI models didn’t receive specific training, says Goodfin CEO Anna Joo Fee, and they still have room to improve before they pose a threat to CFA jobs. For instance, she adds, they can’t read clients’ body language.

Forza Wealth Management founder Michael DeMassa isn’t worried about AI coming for analysts’ jobs, but he does fear AI automating low-level tasks that teach young CFAs key skills. “If all elementary schools gave kids calculators to learn times tables, then when they get to algebra class, they’re not going to know what the heck they’re doing,” he says. “AI is like a calculator for CFAs.”

Last Week

Markets

Stocks opened the week up, still breathing the fumes of the rate cut, though crypto retreated. The Commerce Department revised second-quarter growth to 3.8%. The U.S. offered Argentina a $20 billion swap line to support the peso and ordered agencies to prepare mass firings in the event of a shutdown. Stocks slid for three days, then rallied on Friday. On the week, the Dow industrials fell 0.15%, the S&P 500 , 0.31%; and the Nasdaq Composite , 0.66%.

Companies

Tech companies scrambled after the White House said it would cost $100,000 per H-1B visa. A federal judge allowed Ørsted to resume work on its wind-power project off Rhode Island. Amazon.com agreed to pay up to $2.5 billion on charges it tricked Prime customers. Nvidia will invest up to $100 billion in OpenAI, which expanded planned data centers in the U.S. with Oracle and SoftBank from one to six. Alibaba is also ramping up AI spending. President Trump linked autism to Kenvue’s Tylenol but offered no evidence. Trump issued more tariffs, including 100% on drugmakers without U.S. plants.

Deals

Pfizer said it would pay up to $7.3 million to buy antiobesity-drug developer Metsera …Spanish Bank BBVA upped its bid for Banco de Sabadell … Citigroup agreed to sell 25% of Mexico’s Banamex to Fernando Chico Pardo for $2.3 billion…The Wall Street Journal reported that Electronic Arts is close to going private for as much as $50 billion.

Next Week

Tuesday 9/30

U.S. government funding runs out at 11:59 p.m. unless Congress can hammer out an agreement on a new budget or a stopgap funding bill. A government shutdown would affect the release of some economic data, including the jobs report.

Wednesday 10/1

The Institute for Supply Management releases both its Manufacturing and Services Purchasing Managers’ Indexes for September. Consensus estimates are for a 49.2 reading for the Manufacturing PMI, released on Wednesday, and a 52 reading for the Services PMI, released on Friday. This compares with readings of 48.7 and 52, respectively, in August.

Friday 10/3

The Bureau of Labor Statistics releases the jobs report for September. Economists forecast an increase of 50,000 in nonfarm payrolls, after a 22,000 gain in August. The unemployment rate is expected to remain unchanged at 4.3%. Jobs growth has averaged only 26,750 a month over the past four months, and a weakening labor market has been flagged by several Federal Reserve governors as justification for accelerated cuts to the federal-funds rate. But the unemployment rate is low by historical standards, and layoffs remain muted in a “no hire, no fire” dynamic.

The Numbers

20%

How much economically sensitive U.S. cardboard box shipments per capita have fallen since 1999.

$22 B

Estimate of the value of U.S. renewable energy projects delayed or canceled in the first half of 2025.

13%

Percentage of global retail investors who say they use ChatGPT to pick stocks, from an eToro survey.

32%

Foreigners’ allocation to U.S. assets in the second quarter, a record high going back to 1968.

Write to Robert Teitelman at bob.teitelman@dowjones.com