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 2025 exam cycle and each exam reflects content from the 2025 digital or digital + print curriculum only.
For your convenience, the 2025 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 2025 Exam Topics
Professional Standards and Ethics
- CFA Institute Standards of Practice (11th Edition) – Free access available to registered Candidates through login.
Introduction to Alternative Investments
- What Is an Alternative Investment?
- The Environment of Alternative Investments
- Accessing Alternative Investments
- Quantitative Foundations
- Statistical Foundations
- Financial Economics Foundations
- 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
- Overview of Real Estate
- Real Estate Assets
- Real Estate Methods
Private Equity & Private Debt
- Private Equity Investing
- Venture Capital
- Buyout
- Private Credit and Cash Based Strategies
- Private Credit and Asset Based Strategies
- Insurance Linked Strategies
- Introduction to Structuring
- Credit Risk and Credit Derivatives
Hedge Funds
- Structure of the Hedge Fund Industry
- Macro and Managed Future Funds
- Event-Driven Hedge Funds
- Relative Value Hedge Funds
- Equity Hedge Funds
Digital Assets
- Distributed Ledger Technology
Funds of Funds
- Funds of Funds
CAIA Level II 2025 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...
Institutional Asset Owners
- 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
Asset Allocation
- Asset Allocation Processes and Mean-Variance Optimization
- Total Portfolio Approach
- Other Asset Allocation Approaches
- Active Management
Risk and Risk Management
- Hedging, Rebalancing, and Monitoring
- Benchmarking and Performance Attribution
- Applied Benchmarking
- Liquidity and Funding Risks
- Risk Measurement, Risk Management, and Risk Systems
Methods and Models
- Modeling Overview and Fixed Income Models
- Valuation and Hedging Using Binomial Trees
- Multifactor Equity Pricing Models
- Directional Strategies and Methods
- Multivariate Empirical Methods and Performance Persistence
- Realtive Value Methods
- Valuation Methods for Private Assets
Accessing Alternative Investments
- Hedge Fund Replication
- Diversified Access to Hedge Funds
- Access to Real Estate and Commodities
- The Risk and Performance of Private and Listed Assets
Due Diligence & Selecting Managers
- Selection of a Fund Manager
- Cases in Tail Risk
- Investment Process Due Diligence
- Operational Due Diligence
- Due Diligence of Terms and Business Activities
Volatility and Complex Strategies
- Volatility as a Factor Exposure
- Volatility, Correlation, and Dispersion Products and Strategies
- Complexity and Structured Products
- Complexity and the Case of Cross-Border Real Estate Investing
Universal Investment Considerations
- Professionalism and Fiduciary Responsibilities
- Global Regulation
- Geopolitics
- Sustainability and Alternative Investments
- Sustainability Analysis and Application