The CAIA program provides finance professionals with an extensive foundation of knowledge in alternative investment vehicles, including hedge funds, commodities, managed futures, real estate, and private equity.
The curriculum is designed by leading academics and practitioners, and is divided into two levels. Level I introduces the candidate to core topics in the field of alternative investments and Level II
covers advanced topics in the field. Both Levels I and II cover topics relating to ethics and standards of
professional conduct. The CAIA Level II curriculum is revised once a year to ensure adherence to the latest developments in research and industry practices.
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LEVEL I - September 2021 Curriculum Outline
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Topic 1: Professional Standards and Ethics
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Topic 2: Introduction to Alternative Investments
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Chapter 1 - What is an Alternative Investment?
Chapter 2 - The Environment of Alternative Investments
Chapter 3 - Quantitative Foundations
Chapter 4 - Statistical Foundations
Chapter 5 - Foundations of Financial Economics
Chapter 6 - Derivatives and Risk-Neutral Valuation
Chapter 7 - Measures of Risk and Performance
Chapter 8 - Alpha, Beta, and Hypothesis Testing
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Topic 3: Real Assets
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Chapter 9 - Real Assets
Chapter 10 - Commodities
Chapter 11 - Other Real Assets
Chapter 12 - Real Estate and Debt
Chapter 13 - Real Estate Equity
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Topic 4: Hedge Funds
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Chapter 14 - Structure of the Hedge Fund Industry
Chapter 15 - Macro and Managed Futures Funds
Chapter 16 - Event-Driven Hedge Funds
Chapter 17 - Relative Value Hedge Funds
Chapter 18 - Equity Hedge Funds
Chapter 19 - Funds of Hedge Funds
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Topic 5: Private Securities
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Chapter 20 - Private Equity Assets
Chapter 21 - PE Funds
Chapter 22 - Private Credit and Distressed Debt
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Topic 6: Structured Products
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Chapter 23 - Introduction to Structuring
Chapter 24 - Credit Risk and Credit Derivatives
Chapter 25 - CDO Structuring of Credit Risk
Chapter 26 - Equity-Linked Structured Products
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LEVEL II - September 2021 Curriculum Outline
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Topic 1: Ethics, Regulation and ESG
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Chapter 1 - Asset Manager Code
Chapter 2 - Recommendations and Guidance
Chapter 3 - Global Regulation
Chapter 4 - ESG and Alternative Investments
Chapter 5 - ESG Analysis and Application
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Topic 2: Models
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Chapter 6 - Modeling Overview and Interest Rate Models
Chapter 7 - Credit Risk Models
Chapter 8 - Multi-Factor Equity Pricing Models
Chapter 9 - Asset Allocation Processes and the Mean-Variance Model
Chapter 10 - Other Asset Allocation Approaches
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Topic 3: Institutional Asset Owners and Investment Policies
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Chapter 11 - Types of Asset Owners and the Investment Policy Statement
Chapter 12 - Foundations and the Endowment Model
Chapter 13 - Pension Fund Portfolio Management
Chapter 14 - Sovereign Wealth Funds
Chapter 15 - Family Offices and the Family Office Model
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Topic 4: Risk and Risk Management
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Chapter 16 - Cases in Tail Risk
Chapter 17 - Benchmarking and Performance Attribution
Chapter 18 - Liquidity and Funding Risks
Chapter 19 - Hedging, Rebalancing, and Monitoring
Chapter 20 - Risk Measurement, Risk Management, and Risk Systems
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Topic 5: Methods for Alternative Investing
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Chapter 21 - Valuation and Hedging Using Binomial Trees
Chapter 22 - Directional Strategies and Methods
Chapter 23 - Multivariate Empirical Methods and Performance Persistence
Chapter 24 - Relative Value Methods
Chapter 25 - Valuation Methods for Private Assets - The Case of Real Estate
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Topic 6: Accessing Alternative Investments
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Chapter 26 - Hedge Fund Replication
Chapter 27 - Diversified Access to Hedge Funds
Chapter 28 - Access to Real Estate and Commodities
Chapter 29 - Access through Private Structures
Chapter 30 - The Risk and Performance of Private and Listed Assets
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Topic 7: Due Diligence and Selecting Managers
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Chapter 31 - Active Management and New Investments
Chapter 32 - Selection of a Fund Manager
Chapter 33 - Investment Process Due Diligence
Chapter 34 - Operational Due Diligence
Chapter 35 - Due Diligence of Terms and Business Activities
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Topic 8: Volatility and Complex Strategies
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Chapter 36 - Volatility as a Factor Exposure
Chapter 37 - Volatility, Correlation, and Dispersion Products and Strategies
Chapter 38 - Complexity and Structured Products
Chapter 39 - Insurance-Linked and Hybrid Securities
Chapter 40 - Complexity and the Case of Cross-Border Real Estate Investing
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Topic 9: Current and Integrated Topics
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1. Dynamic Strategies for Asset Allocation
2. Technical Guide for Limited Partners: Responsible Investing in Private Equity
3. Asset Owners, Investment Management, and Commitment: An Organizational Framework
4. Building a Better Portfolio: Balancing Performance and Liquidity
5. Demystifying Illiquid Assets: Expected Returns for Private Equity
6. An executive's guide to AI
7. Longevity and Liabilities: Bridging the Gap
8. Blockchain and Financial Market Innovation
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