CAIA Level 2 Curriculum: An Overview

CAIA Level 2 curriculum covers the advanced level of the topics in Level 1.

I list out a list of exam content below for your reference. To learn more about what candidates are expected to know in each topic, you can download the CAIA Level II Study Guide and Errata for free.

If you have decided to take the exam, you can go straight to the official study guide or third-party CAIA review courses for details.

CAIA Level 2 Curriculum Overview

1. Asset Allocation and Portfolio Management

• The Endowment Model
• Risk Management for Endowment and Foundation Portfolios
• Pension fund Portfolio Management

2. Private Equity

• Private Equity Market Landscape
• Private Equity Fund Structure
• The Investment Process
• Private Equity Portfolio Design
• Fund Manager Selection Process
• Measuring Performance and Benchmarking in the Private Equity World
• Monitoring Private Equity Fund Investments
• Private Equity Fund Valuation
• Private Equity Fund Discount Rates
• The Management of Liquidity

3. Real Assets

• Real Estate as an Investment
• Unsmoothing of Appraisal Based Returns
• Core, Value-Added, and Opportunistic Real Estate
• Real Estate Indices
• Public versus Private Real Estate Risks
• Portfolio Allocation within Real Estate
• Farmland and Timber Investments
• Investing in Intellectual Property

4. Commodities

• Key Concepts in Commodity Market Analysis
• Role of Commodities in Asset Allocation
• Methods of Delivering Commodity Alpha
• Methods of Delivering Commodity Beta: Indices, Swaps, Notes, and Hedge Funds
• Macroeconomic Determinants of Commodity Futures Returns
• Effective Risk Management Strategies for Commodity Portfolios

5. Hedge Funds and Managed Futures

• Structure of the Managed Futures Industry
• Managed Futures: Strategies and Sources of Return
• Risk and Performance Analysis in Managed Futures Strategies
• Structuring Investments in CTAs
• Hedge Fund Replication
• Convertible Arbitrage
• Global Macro and Currency Strategies
• Fundamental Equity Hedge Fund Strategies
• Quantitative Equity Hedge Fund Strategies
• Funds of Hedge Funds
• Regulation and Compliance
• Operational Due Diligence

For your Further Reading

• How is the exam graded?
• Info on exam results release
• FAQ page