Two years ago, AI passed the first two multiple-choice parts of the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) exam, but failed the third section due to the essay questions.
Now, some AI models are advanced enough to ace the test in mere minutes (and sans studying), according to a new report released earlier this week by New York University’s Stern School of Business and AI wealth management platform GoodFin.
The test, which finance professionals take to obtain a certification that can lead to a better salary, takes humans, on average, 1,000 hours of studying to prepare for. The study found that nine AI reasoning models were able to pass all three parts of the CFA exam in minutes — even the most difficult third level of the test, which focuses on portfolio management and wealth planning, and asks for answers to essay questions.
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The researchers evaluated 23 AI models using CFA mock exams. OpenAI’s o4-mini (one of the models that powers ChatGPT), Anthropic’s Claude Opus, DeepSeek’s R1 model, and Google’s Gemini 2.5 Flash were part of the group that passed, using “chain-of-thought prompting,” a tactic that asks AI models to show how they arrived at an answer with step-by-step reasoning.
Meta’s Llama 4 Maverick, xAI’s Grok 3, and OpenAI’s GPT-4.1 nano were part of the 14 models that failed the test.
GoodFin founder and CEO Anna Joo Fee told CNBC that AI carries the potential to “transform” the investment management industry — but she doesn’t think that AI will make the CFA credential obsolete.
“There are things like context and intent that are hard for the machine to assess right now,” Fee told the outlet. “That’s where a human shines, in understanding your body language and cues.”
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The CFA test is administered every few months to thousands of candidates and costs up to $4,600 for all three levels of the exam. Professionals who pass can see a 53% salary increase, according to research conducted by exam preparation site, 300Hours. The company that administers the exam, the CFA Institute, says the test is “one of the highest distinctions in the investment management profession.”