The CAIA Charter curriculum consists of two exam levels and is revised annually to incorporate relevant, practical industry developments, and the latest academic research.
Both Levels have been updated for the 2026 exam cycle and each exam reflects content from the 2026 digital or digital + print curriculum only.
For your convenience, the 2026 digital curriculum package is INCLUDED with new Candidate registration fees. If you prefer a print version, you may purchase one here. Please note - since the digital curriculum is automatically part of the registration fee, we are not able to issue a credit if you select to purchase the print version separately.
To get started, explore curriculum details here.
CAIA Level I 2026 Exam Topics
CAIA Ethical Principles
- Ethics
- Professionalism and Fiduciary Responsibilities
Introduction to Alternative Investments
- Alpha and Beta Estimations
- Alpha, Beta, and Hypothesis Testing
- Derivatives and Risk-Neutral Valuation
- Financial Economics Foundations
- Measures of Risk and Performance
- Quantitative Foundations
- Statistical Foundations
- The Environment of Alternative Investments
- What is An Alternative Investment?
Real Assets
- Commodities
- Natural Resources and Land
- Other Real Assets
- Overview of Real Estate
- Real Estate Assets
- Real Estate Methods
Private Equity & Private Debt
- Buyout
- Private Equity Investing
- Venture Capital & Growth Equity
- Credit Risk and Credit Derivatives
- Insurance Linked Strategies
- Introduction to Structuring
- Private Credit and Asset Based Strategies
- Private Credit and Cash Based Strategies
Hedge Funds
- Equity Hedge Funds
- Event-Driven Hedge Funds
- Macro and Managed Futures Funds
- Relative Value Hedge Funds
- The Hedge Fund Industry
Digital Assets
- Allocating to Cryptocurrencies
- Distributed Ledger Technology
Funds of Funds
- Funds of Funds
CAIA Level II 2026 Exam Topics
Emerging Topics - Free access available to registered Candidates through login.
- Digital Assets: Bitcoin, Web 3.0, and DeFi
- Private Equity: Value Creation in Private Equity, and Forecasting Returns
- Portfolio Management: Rebalancing Illiquid Portfolios, Managing Liquidity for Capital Calls, and Assessing Long Term Performance
- and more...
CAIA Ethical Principles
- Ethics
- Professionalism and Fiduciary Responsibilities
Institutional Asset Owners
- Family Offices and the Family Office Model
- Foundations and the Endowment Model
- Pension Fund Portfolio Management
- Sovereign Wealth Funds
- Types of Asset Owners and the IPS
Asset Allocation
- Active Management
- Asset Allocation Processes and MVO
- Other Asset Allocation Approaches
- Rebalancing Strategies
- Total Portfolio Approach
Risk and Risk Management
- Applied Benchmarking
- Benchmarking and Performance Attribution
- Hedging Portfolios
- Liquidity and Funding Risks
- Risk Measurement, Risk Management, and Risk Systems
Methods and Models
- Directional Strategies and Methods
- Modeling Overview and Fixed Income Models
- Multi-Factor Equity Pricing Models
- Multivariate Empirical Methods and Performance Persistence
- Relative Value Methods
- Valuation and Hedging Using Binomial Trees
- Valuation Methods for Private Assets: The Case of Real Estate
Accessing Alternative Investments
- Access to Real Assets
- Diversified Access to Hedge Funds
- Hedge Fund Replication
- The Risk and Performance of Private and Listed Assets
Due Diligence & Selecting Managers
- Cases in Tail Risk
- Due Diligence of Terms and Business Activities
- Investment Process Due Diligence
- Operational Due Diligence
- Selection of a Fund Manager
Volatility and Complex Strategies
- Complexity and Structured Products
- Complexity and the Case of Cross-Border Real Estate Investing
- Cryptocurrency Investing and Trading
- Volatility as a Factor Exposure
- Volatility, Correlation, and Dispersion Products and Strategies
Universal Investment Considerations
- Geopolitics
- Global Regulation
- Professionalism and Fiduciary Responsibilities
- Sustainability Analysis and Application
- Sustainability and Alternative Investments