I’m currently working in management consulting (infrastructure/real estate operations focused) at a Big 4. Prior to my current role, I came from an engineering undergrad and have several years of experience in infrastructure development. My main goal at this point is to learn more about infrastructure and real estate investments before seeking jobs in investment management (institutional or mega fund) or private equity (infra or RE focused).
I have zero knowledge in finance and I am wondering which prep provider will be best for getting me prepared to write the exam? I’ve heard of two prominent providers so far- Uppermark and Kaplan, but I am unsure which one is more appropriate for someone my level. I am planning on sitting for L1 this September.
Ahoy - For L1 I can only speak to Wiley and UpperMark. I purchased the self-study Wiley package, and while it was concise and easy to go through and study, it definitely was lacking in certain details Plus there seemed to be several errors in either questions or practice tests, which makes it frustrating to go through. About 1/2 of the way through my L1 study, I purchased UpperMark testbank and final review. From then on, that’s all I studied with and it was extremely helpful. Many here (including myself) will equate UpperMark to the difficulty of the actual exam. The level of questions and complexity involved were a good match. Definitely wouldn’t have passed L1 without the UpperMark portion.
For L2, I went all out with UpperMark and it definitely matched the difficultly level and really helped me prep for L2.
Best of luck with the decision and your test in September!
Thank you for your candid review of the Uppermark CAIA prep materials! At this time, I’m leaning in that direction for Level 1 and am considering purchasing the platinum suite.