Artificial intelligence models pass the CFA exam

Normally, a human needs around 1000 hours of intense self-study to crackthe prestigious, three-part chartered financial analyst exam. Passing the exam ensures that a person climbs the corporate ladder. The most difficult level of the exam is Level III. While it takes a human several months of hard work to crack the exam, artificialintelligence models can clear the exam in a matter of minutes, highlighting that the technology is already surpassing human intelligence.

A new study conducted by researchers from New York University Stern School of Business and GoodFin, according to CNBC, evaluated 23 large language models on their ability to answer multiple-choice and essay questions. The test was modelled around mock CFA Level III exams.

AI products like o4-mini, Gemini 2.5 Pro, and Claude Opus passed he examafter "chain-of-thought" prompting.

Previous researchhad found that artificial intelligence was able to clear Levels I and II of the exam. However, two years ago, it was struggling to pass the Level III exam because it required them to write essay questions.

However, as the AI technology is advancing rapidly, researchers found these models were able to handle "specialized, high-stakes analytical reasoning required for professional financial decision-making".

The third CFA exam focuses on wealth planning and the management of a portfolio.

Anna Joo Fee, GoodFin CEO, said that this technology will transform the industry. She, however, still said that AI won't replace the CFA.

The research was led by Shilpi Nayak, the co-founder and CTO of Goodfin.

"There are things like context and intent that are hard for the machine to assess right now. That's where a human shines, in understanding your body language and cues," she added.