How to study for the CAIA exam
Sequence your sittings, drill high-weight topics, and fix the failure modes that waste practice time. Level I builds ethics, quantitative tools, and the major alternative asset classes. Use MiloPrep tools to plan hours for CAIA alongside practice in the app.
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Who this fits
Fits you if
- Professionals in private markets, hedge funds, or alternatives allocation who want a charter specialised in alternatives.
Skip if
- Candidates whose roles are pure public-markets equity research or household financial planning - CFA or CFP may fit better as the primary exam path.
Study sequence
Step 1
Treat Ethics and Introduction as Level I anchors
Those topics carry the widest Level I bands. Do not starve them to chase niche strategy names. Tie this stage to the published CAIA weights before you expand reading. Watch for: Studying hedge-fund strategy names without practising the risk, liquidity, and fee mechanics that change the answer.
Step 2
Learn each asset class through risk and liquidity
For hedge funds, private equity, private debt, and real assets, practise fee, liquidity, and risk questions - not only definitions. Tie this stage to the published CAIA weights before you expand reading. Watch for: Passing Level I on recognition questions, then underpreparing constructed-response structure and institutional due-diligence frameworks.
Step 3
Add digital assets and funds of funds deliberately
They are smaller weights but easy marks if you know the handbook framing. Tie this stage to the published CAIA weights before you expand reading. Watch for: Studying hedge-fund strategy names without practising the risk, liquidity, and fee mechanics that change the answer.
Step 4
Build Level II constructed-response templates
Universal Investment Considerations and Emerging Topics are written. Practise short, structured answers. Tie this stage to the published CAIA weights before you expand reading. Watch for: Passing Level I on recognition questions, then underpreparing constructed-response structure and institutional due-diligence frameworks.
Step 5
Sit two-section mocks at handbook timing
130 minutes per section. Review by topic weight so the next week targets the weakest band. Tie this stage to the published CAIA weights before you expand reading. Watch for: Studying hedge-fund strategy names without practising the risk, liquidity, and fee mechanics that change the answer.
Step 6
Close the week with a format block
Match at least one weekly block to published sitting length for the part you will sit next. Review only the patterns you missed — not every topic equally.
CAIA study-week checklist
- Open the CAIA hub and mark which sittings you will book first.
- Spend at least one block on Level I high-weight topics.
- Run one mixed set, then log every stem you missed with the correct rule.
- Schedule one timed block near published sitting length this week.
- Revisit one troubleshooting symptom from the hub and apply the next step.
Failure-mode watchlist
- Level I: Studying hedge-fund strategy names without practising the risk, liquidity, and fee mechanics that change the answer.
- Level II: Passing Level I on recognition questions, then underpreparing constructed-response structure and institutional due-diligence frameworks.
Fee and liquidity mechanics: Many Level I misses come from waterfall, lock-up, or redemption details rather than strategy labels.
Institutional constraint questions (Level II): Practise how asset-owner constraints change the acceptable alternative allocation.
If level i strategy flashcards are not lifting scores, Rewrite each strategy card with one risk, one liquidity feature, and one fee feature.
If level ii constructed responses feel unstructured, Practice command-word templates: recommend, justify, list three risks.
| Approach | Best for | Watch-out |
|---|---|---|
| Part-by-part sprint | Candidates sitting one CAIA part soon | Leaving neighbouring topics cold |
| Weight-first calendar | Working professionals with limited hours | Skipping format practice |
| Full mock weeks | Final 3–4 weeks before a sitting | Using mocks before a baseline exists |
Practice focuses
| Focus | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Fee and liquidity mechanics | Many Level I misses come from waterfall, lock-up, or redemption details rather than strategy labels. |
| Institutional constraint questions (Level II) | Practise how asset-owner constraints change the acceptable alternative allocation. |
| Due diligence checklists in writing | For constructed response, list the diligence steps the question asks for - no more, no fewer. |
Confirm numbers on official pages
Session structure, question formats, and approximate topic weights come from the 2026 CAIA Exam Handbook. Level I is two 130-minute multiple-choice sections with 200 questions in total. Level II has 100 multiple-choice questions in section 1 and three constructed-response sets in section 2, with each section lasting 130 minutes. Level II topic records preserve the separate multiple-choice and constructed-response columns. CAIA Ethical Principles and Emerging Topics are constructed-response-only. Other Level II topics can appear in either format. Curriculum and weights can change by calendar year.
How we review structure facts
MiloPrep cites awarding-body materials for CAIA. Fees and pass rates are excluded when they move too often to state as facts.
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Next steps
CAIA FAQs
- How many levels is CAIA?
- Two: Level I and Level II.
- What is the Level I format?
- 200 multiple-choice questions across two sections of 130 minutes each, per the CAIA Exam Candidate Handbook.
- Does Level II include constructed responses?
- Yes. Level II includes 100 multiple-choice questions plus three constructed-response sets. Some topics are constructed-response only.
- Is CAIA a substitute for the CFA charter?
- No. CAIA is specialised in alternatives. Some candidates hold both; choose based on whether alternatives are central to your work.
- Where do these CAIA facts come from?
- From the CAIA Exam Candidate Handbook and curriculum pages linked in the source callout on this page.
- How many sittings does the CAIA exam include?
- CAIA is structured as 2 levels. On this site we track 2 sittings: Level I, Level II. Confirm current windows on CAIA Association pages.
- What question format should I expect on CAIA Level I?
- Level I uses Multiple choice across about 200 scored items, with roughly 260 minutes of content time. Always re-check CAIA Association before you book.