CAIA exam and study resources

This page maps the Qualifico CAIA guides. CAIA is a two-level specialist route and the levels ask for genuinely different things, so the guide you need depends on which exam is in front of you.

How the two levels fit together

The 2026 CAIA Exam Handbook describes Level I as 200 multiple choice questions across two sections. Level II is different in kind: 100 multiple choice questions plus three sets of constructed-response questions.

Level I takes a bottom-up view of the industry, covering ethics, the main alternative asset classes, digital assets and funds of funds. Level II is top-down, covering institutional asset owners, allocation, risk, methods, access, due diligence, manager selection and emerging topics. How the CAIA exams work has the full structure.

The preparation challenge

Level I punishes chapter-shaped study. The syllabus reads like separate asset classes, but the questions keep returning to the same comparisons: what the exposure is, what drives return, which risk dominates, how liquid it is, what is hard to value, where the fee incentive sits and what due diligence would check. Knowing what private debt is without being able to say how the creditor mindset changes the risk profile is not yet Level I ready.

Two handbook facts shape planning too: the curriculum is exam-year specific and revised annually, and no equation list is provided.

Level II punishes product knowledge without judgement. The questions imply an investor with a decision to make, so an answer that describes a strategy correctly and stops has missed the mark. Ethics and Emerging Topics are tested exclusively in constructed-response format, responses beyond a requested number may not be scored, and a part can usually be answered in one or two paragraphs. Written practice has to start early and train selection rather than fluency.

Start here

• What alternative investments are, if the terminology is new.

• What CAIA involves, for the route and who it suits.

• Whether CAIA is worth it, for the return on the commitment.

Guides by level

Level I: what the exam tests, how to study the asset classes and a Level I study plan.

Level II: what changes after Level I, moving to allocator judgement and how to write better short answers.

Ethics runs through both levels and is less obvious in alternatives than elsewhere, which how to approach professional standards in alternative investments works through.

Technique and study planning

A practical CAIA study plan covers the map, learn, practise and refine phases, and studying around work compresses it into weeks that survive a demanding job. Because the materials are exam-year specific, checking what has changed is a real step rather than admin. If a sitting has already gone against you, how to rebuild your plan separates the failure modes first.

How Qualifico supports CAIA study

Qualifico sits beside the official curriculum as a practice and diagnosis layer, covering both levels rather than Level I alone. Guided practice gives feedback after each question, mock exam mode is timed, and flashcards carry the specialised vocabulary. Topic performance and weak-area prioritisation help you tell a private debt problem from a general liquidity-and-fees problem, which changes what you study next.

Written Response practice is available at Level II, including ethics scenarios. You write a short answer under allocator-style conditions and get a mark, a percentage and the points from that question's mark scheme your answer missed. It is automated marking rather than an examiner, and it runs in the Qualifico web app rather than the mobile app. Level I is multiple choice throughout, so Written Response does not apply there.

Keep the official sources open

The CAIA Association remains the authority on examinable content. The curriculum companion for your level and exam year defines the learning objectives and keywords eligible to be measured; the exam handbook covers logistics rather than syllabus. Both are revised annually, so an inherited note set from a previous cycle is background, not a plan.

Where to go next

If Level I is your next exam, start with what the Level I exam tests and build the comparison habit early. If you are moving up, start with what changes after Level I and bring written practice forward in the plan rather than leaving it to final revision.