NEW YORK - The growth in alternative investments has created yet another professional designation.

In an industry saturated with such credentials, the latest mark of expertise, the CAIA, or Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst, is intended to demonstrate the holder's knowledge in the specialized areas of alternative investments such as hedge funds, private equity, real estate and commodity investing.

Development of the title has been in the works for several years, and it was officially launched in November.  To get the mark, practitioners have to pass two exams that are offered twice a year, in February and June.

Jim Keene, an adviser in San Francisco who specializes in alternative investments and teaches the subject for chartered financial analyst, or CFA, preparation classes, is planning to take the exam next year.

Keene, who already holds the CFA and CFP (or certified financial planner) titles, expects the certification process will broaden his knowledge of alternative investments and, over time, help bring in more business.

"When somebody is deciding between you and me as an investment adviser - all other things being equal - if I happen to have a title, that gives me some level of credibility," Keene said.

It's likely to be some time before investors can discriminate the latest acronym from the dozens of financial services credentials that already exist.

"In order for it to be impressive in the marketplace, it has to have critical mass," said Mark Tiergien, a partner will Moss Adams LLC, a Seattle accounting firm that does consulting for financial planning firms.  The designation will "allow people to focus on a specific curriculum of continuing education so that they become specialists," he said.  "Does it make you more credible?," he said.  "I'm dubious."

Indeed, it's only in recent years that the CFP title has gained greater acceptance in the financial planning community, even though the title was launched in the early 1970s.

The CAIA designation is co-sponsored by the Alternative Investment Management Association, a trade group based in London, and the Center for International Securities and Derivatives Markets, or CISDM, a research group at the University of Massachusetts.