CAIA Level I Exam Topics
New Curriculum, 4th Edition
Note: The September 2020 exam reflects content from Alternative Investments: Level I, 4th Edition only.
Professional Standards and Ethics
- Professionalism
- Integrity of Capital Markets
- Duties to Clients
- Duties to Employers
- Investment Analysis, Recommendations, and Actions
- Conflicts of Interest
Introduction to Alternative Investments
- 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
Real Assets
- Natural Resources and Land
- Commodities
- Other Real Assets
- Real Estate and Debt
- Real Estate Equity
Hedge Funds
- Structure of the Hedge Fund Industry
- Macro and Managed Futures Funds
- Event-Driven Hedge Funds
- Relative Value Hedge Funds
- Equity Hedge Funds
- Funds of Hedge Funds
Private Equity
- Private Equity Assets
- Private Equity Funds
- Private Credit and Distressed Debt
Structured Products
- Introduction to Structuring
- Credit Risk and Credit Derivatives
- CDO Structuring of Credit Risk
- Equity-Linked Structured Products
Level I Topic |
Approximate Exam Weight |
|---|---|
| Professional Standards and Ethics | 15-25% |
| Introduction to Alternative Investments | 20-28% |
| Real Assets including Commodities | 11-17% |
| Hedge Funds | 12-20% |
| Private Equity | 11-17% |
| Structured Products | 10-14% |
CAIA Level II Exam Topics
Asset Allocation and Institutional Investors
- Asset Allocation Processes and the Mean-Variance Model
- Tactical Asset Allocation, Mean-Variance Extensions, Risk Budgeting, Risk Parity, and Factor Investing
- The Endowment Model
- Pension Fund Portfolio Management
- Sovereign Wealth Funds
- The Family Office Model
Private Equity
- Private Equity Market Structure
- Private Equity Benchmarking
- Fund Manager Selection and Monitoring
- Private Equity Operational Due Diligence
- Private Equity Investment Process and Portfolio Management
- Measuring Private Equity Risk
- The Management of Liquidity
Real Assets
- Real Estate as an Investment
- Real Estate Indices and Unsmoothing Techniques
- Investment Styles, Portfolio Allocation, and Real Estate Derivatives
- Listed Versus Unlisted Real Estate Investments
- International Real Estate Investments
- Infrastructure as an Investment
- Farmland and Timber Investments
- Investing in Intellectual Property
Commodities
- Key Concepts in Commodity Markets
- Allocation to Commodities
- Accessing Commodity Investment Products
Hedge Funds and Managed Futures
- Managed Futures
- Investing In CTAs
- Relative Value Strategies
- Hedge Funds - vs. : Directional Strategies
- Hedge Funds - vs. : Credit Strategies
- Volatility, Correlation, and Dispersion Products and Strategies
- Hedge Fund Replication
- Funds of Hedge Funds and Multi-Strategy Funds
- Hedge Fund Operational Due Diligence
Structured Products
- Regulation and Compliance
- Structured Products I - vs. : Fixed-income Derivatives and Asset-backed Securities
- Structured Products II - vs. : Insurance-Linked Products and Hybrid Securities
Level II Topic |
Approximate Exam Weight |
|
|---|---|---|
| Multiple Choice | Constructed Response | |
| Professional Standards and Ethics | 0% | 10% |
| Current and Integrated Topics | 0% | 10% |
| Asset Allocation and Institutional Investors | 8-12% | 0-10% |
| Private Equity | 11-15% | 0-10% |
| Real Assets | 13-17% | 0-10% |
| Commodities | 5-7% | 0-10% |
| Hedge Funds and Managed Futures | 18-22% | 0-10% |
| Structured Products | 5-7% | 0-10% |