Individuals who want to develop a deeper understanding of alternative investments such as hedge funds, private equity, real assets, commodities, etc. can apply for CAIA membership. Interested candidates first need to clear the level I and level II exams conducted by the CAIA Association. There are two levels of exams conducted twice a year in September and March. Follow this article for complete details related to the CAIA exam date 2024.
Table of Contents
CAIA Timetable 2024
The table below provides the tentative dates for the CAIA timetable 2024. The actual dates will be updated after being declared by the institute.
| Events | Tentative dates | |
| September 2024 | March 2025 | |
| Commencement of the registration process | 2nd week of April 2024 | 2nd week of October 2024 |
| Deadline for early registration | 1st week of June 2024 | 1st week of December 2024 |
| Closing of the registration process | 2nd week of August 2024 | 2nd week of February 2025 |
| Level I Exam Window | 1st to 3rd week of September 2024 | 1st to 3rd week of March 2025 |
| Online Proctoring Testing Dates | 1st to 2nd week of September 2024 | 1st to 2nd week of March 2025 |
| Level II Exam Window | 3rd to last week of September 2024 | 3rd to last week of March 2025 |
| Online Proctoring Testing Dates | 3rd to 4th week of September 2024 | 3rd to 4th week of March 2025 |
How to register for the CAIA exam 2024?
Check out the step-by-step process to register for the CAIA 2024 exam:
- To register for the CAIA exam, the candidates first need to create an account.
- For this, click on the “Create Account” button on the official website of CAIA.
- An account can be created by using an email id and a password.
- After this, the candidates can log in to their accounts and fill out the registration form for the exam.
- Basic personal, academic, and professional details of the candidates will be asked in the registration form.
- The registration form can then be submitted along with the prescribed enrollment and registration fee.
- After successful registration, the candidates will be able to schedule their exam.
- They can also provide their choice for appearing in the exam at Pearson VUE testing center or an online remote proctored exam.
Registration fee structure:
| Fees | Enrollment Fee | Exam Registration | Total | |
| First-Time Level I | Early Registration | $400 | $995 | $1395 |
| Standard | $400 | $1395 | $1795 | |
| First-Time Level II | Early Registration | —— | $995 | $995 |
| Standard | —— | $1395 | $1395 | |
| First-time LII CFA Stackers | Early Registration | $400 | $995 | $1395 |
| Standard | $400 | $1395 | $1795 | |
| Retake | —— | $795 | $795 | |
Basic Eligibility for CAIA
- A bachelor’s degree or equivalent with one year of work experience in the field of alternative investment analysis or other regulatory, banking, financial, or related field is required.
- Those without a bachelor’s degree need to have 4 years of experience in order to be eligible.
- A CFA charter holder in good standing is eligible too.
CAIA Exam Pattern 2024
Check out the basic exam pattern for CAIA 2024:
| Mode of exam | Online |
| Number of levels | 2 |
| Duration of exam | 5 hours (each) |
| Number of questions | Level 1- 200 Level 2- 100 |
| Type of questions | Objective type, constructed response type |
| Question paper language | English |
CAIA Exam Topics 2024
Level II Exam
- Professional Standards and Ethics: CFA Institute Standards of Practice
- Introduction to Alternative Investments: Introduction, environment of alternative investments, quantitative foundations, statistical foundations, measures of risk & performance, alpha, beta, & hypothesis testing, etc
- Real Assets: Natural resources & land, commodities, other real assets, real estate assets & debt, and real estate equity
- Private Securities: Private equity assets, private equity funds, private equity fund of funds, evolution of investing in private equity, private credit, and distressed debt
- Hedge Funds: Structure of the hedge fund industry, macro & managed futures funds, event-driven & relative value hedge funds, equity hedge funds, and funds of hedge funds
- Structured Products: Introduction to structuring, credit risk & credit derivatives, CDO structuring of credit risk, and equity-linked structured products
Level II Exam
- Emerging Topics: Digital Assets: Blockchain, bitcoin, & defi, private equity, sustainable investing in private equity, forecasting returns, portfolio management, rebalancing illiquid portfolios, longevity risk, and assessing long-term performance
- Ethics Regulations and ESG: Asset manager code, recommendations & guidance, global regulation, ESG & alternative investments, and ESG analysis & application
- Models: Modeling Overview & interest rate models, credit risk models, multi-factor equity pricing models, asset allocation processes, mean-variance model, and other asset allocation approaches
- Institutional Asset Owners and Investment Policies: Types of asset owners & investment policy statement, sovereign wealth funds, endowment model, pension fund portfolio management, family offices, and the family office model
- Risk and Risk Management: Cases in tail risk, benchmarking & performance attribution, liquidity and funding risks, hedging, rebalancing, & monitoring, risk measurement, risk management, and risk systems
- Methods for Alternative Investments: Valuations & hedging using binomial trees, directional strategies & methods, relative value methods, and valuation methods for private assets: the case of real estate, etc
- Accessing Alternative Investments: Hedge fund replication, diversified access to hedge funds, access to real estate & commodities, access through private structures, the risk & performance of private, and listed assets
- Due Diligence & Selecting Managers: Active management & new investments, selection of a fund manager, 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, dispersion products & strategies, complexity & structured products, insurance-linked & hybrid securities, etc
Frequently Asked Questions
Question 1: Can I get a refund on the enrolment fee?
Answer: The enrolment fee is non-refundable.
Question 2: What is the CAIA official website?
Answer: https://caia.org/
Question 3: What is the full form of CAIA?
Answer: Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst
Question 4: Is there any time limit to apply for CAIA membership after the level II exam?
Answer: There are no time restrictions on when to apply for CAIA membership.
Question 5: How many members are there in CAIA?
Answer: As of 2023, there are more than 13,000 CAIA members globally.