The CAIA Charter gives you professional credibility, access, and connections. The rigorous, self-directed two-level qualifying exam covers the alternative asset classes, including private equity, venture capital, hedge funds, managed futures, as well as real assets, risk management and professional ethics.
WHAT IS THE ELIGIBILITY & WHO CAN DO?:
Hold a bachelor’s degree, or the equivalent, and have more than one year of professional experience, or alternatively have at least four years of professional experience. Professional experience is defined as full-time employment in a professional capacity within the regulatory, banking, financial, or related fields.
WHAT IS THE COURSE STRUCTURE?
CAIA Level I – Exam Topics
Level I Topic | Approximate Exam Weight |
|---|---|
| Professional Standards and Ethics | 15-25% |
| Introduction to Alternative Investments | 20-28% |
| Real Assets | 11-17% |
| Private Securities | 12-20% |
| Hedge Funds | 11-17% |
| Structured Products | 10-14% |
CAIA Level I – Outline
• Professionalism
• Integrity of Capital Markets
• Duties to Clients
• Duties to Employers
• Investment Analysis, Recommendations, and Actions
• Conflicts of Interest
• What Is an Alternative Investment?
• The Environment of Alternative Investments
• Quantitative Foundations
• Statistical Foundations
• Foundations of Financial Economics
• Derivatives and Risk-Neutral Valuation
• Measures of Risk and Performance
• Alpha, Beta, and Hypothesis Testing
• Natural Resources and Land
• Commodities
• Other Real Assets
• Real Estate and Debt
• Real Estate Equity
• Private Equity Assets
• Private Equity Funds
• Private Equity Funds of Funds
• Evolution of Investing in Private Equity
• Private Credit and Distressed Debt
• Structure of the Hedge Funds
• Macro and Managed Future Funds
• Event-Driven & Relative Value Hedge Funds
• Equity Hedge Funds
• Funds of Hedge Funds
• Introduction to Structuring
• Credit Risk and Credit Derivatives
• CDO Structuring of Credit Risk
• Equity-Linked Structured Products
CAIA Level II – Exam Topics
Level II Topic | Approximate Exam Weight | |
|---|---|---|
| Multiple Choice | Constructed Response | |
| Emerging Topics | 0% | 10% |
| Ethics, Regulation, and ESG | 0% | 10% |
| Models | 8-12% | 0-10% |
| Institutional Asset Owners and Investment Policies | 8-12% | 0-10% |
| Risk and Risk Management | 8-12% | 0-10% |
| Methods for Alternative Investing | 8-12% | 0-10% |
| Accessing Alternative Investments | 8-12% | 0-10% |
| Due Diligence and Selecting Strategies | 8-12% | 0-10% |
| Volatility and Complex Strategies | 8-12% | 0-10% |
| Total | 70% | 30% |
CAIA Level II – Outline
• Decentralized Finance: On Blockchain- and Smart Contract-Based Financial Markets
• Technical Guide for Limited Partners: Responsible Investing in Private Equity
• Channels for Exposure to Bitcoin
• Assessing Long-Term Investor Performance: Principles, Policies and Metrics
• Demystifying Illiquid Assets: Expected Returns for Private Equity
• An Introduction to Portfolio Rebalancing Strategies
• Longevity and Liabilities: Bridging the Gap
• Asset Manager Code
• Recommendations and Guidance
• Global Regulation
• ESG and Alternative Investments
• ESG Analysis and Application
• Modeling Overview and Interest Rate Models
• Credit Risk Models
• Multi-Factor Equity Pricing Models
• Asset Allocation Processes and the Mean-Variance Model
• Other Asset Allocation Approaches
• Types of Asset Owners and the Investment Policy Statement
• Foundations, and The Endowment Model
• Pension Fund Portfolio Management
• Sovereign Wealth Funds
• Family Offices and the Family Office Model
• Cases in Tail Risk
• Benchmarking and Performance Attribution
• Liquidity and Funding Risks
• Hedging, Rebalancing, and Monitoring
• Risk Measurement, Risk Management, and Risk Systems
• Valuation and Hedging Using Binomial Trees
• Directional Strategies and Methods
• Multivariate Empirical Methods and Performance Persistence
• Relative Value Methods
• Valuation Methods for Private Assets: The Case of Real Estate
• Hedge Fund Replication
• Diversified Access to Hedge Funds
• Access to Real Estate and Commodities
• Access Through Private Structures
• The Risk and Performance of Private and Listed Assets
• Active Management and New Investments
• Selection of a Fund Manager
• Investment Process Due Diligence
• Operational Due Diligence
• Due Diligence of Terms and Business Activities
• Volatility as a Factor Exposure
• Volatility, Correlation, and Dispersion Products and Strategies
• Complexity and Structured Products
• Insurance-Linked and Hybrid Securities
• Complexity and the Case of Cross-Border Real Estate Investing
HOW WE TEACH (VIDEO GALLERY):
WHAT IS THE EXAM INFORMATION?
| CAIA Level-I | CAIA Level-II | |
| EXAM FORMAT | 200 multiple-choice questions with an optional 30-minute break between each section. Sections 1 and 2 each consist of 100 multiple-choice questions, which measure candidates’ knowledge of the CAIA Level I curriculum | 100 multiple-choice questions and three sets of constructed-response (essay-type) questions that measure candidates’ knowledge of the CAIA Level II curriculum |
| EXAM DURATION | 4 hours with an optional 30-minute break between each section | 2 hours to complete the multiple-choice question section and 2 hours to complete the constructed-response section |
| EXAM DATES | Exam cycles occur in March and September | |
WHAT IS THE EXAM FEE?
| First-Time Level I | First-Time Level II | First-Time Level II CFA Stackers | Retake | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Early* | Standard | Early* | Standard | Early* | Standard | ||
| Exam registration | 995 $ | 1395 $ | 995 $ | 1395 $ | 995 $ | 1395 $ | 450 $ |
| Program enrollment | 400 $ | 400 $ | – | – | 400 $ | 400 $ | – |
| 1395 $ | 1795 $ | 995 $ | 1395 $ | 1395 $ | 1795 $ | 450 $ | |
WHAT IS THE EXAM LOCATION?
CAIA exams are administered in computerized format exclusively at proctored Pearson VUE test centers around the globe.
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