CFA Institute is pleased to provide you with this Investment Series covering major areas in the field of investments. These texts are thoroughly grounded in the highly regarded CFA Program Candidate Body of Knowledge (CBOK^®) that draws upon hundreds of practicing investment professionals and serves as the anchor for the three levels of the CFA Examinations. In the year this series is being launched, more than 120,000 aspiring investment professionals will each devote over 250 hours of study to master this material as well as other elements of the Candidate Body of Knowledge in order to obtain the coveted CFA charter. We provide these materials for the same reason we have been chartering investment professionals for over 40 years: to improve the competency and ethical character of those serving the capital markets.