The quant from Level 1 CAIA is somewhat comparable to CFA Level 2, which I am studying simultaneously. I got the Schweser books and they seem to be ok with some minor exceptions. I think it’s a very much doable exam, much less material than CFA Level 1.
i did both levels - i very much enjoyed it. deep dive into alternatives - you won’t get that in CFA. good for fund of funds for the most part. some overlap in L1 with CFA, but otherwise quite complementary to CFA. they were looking at revising the curriculum to reduce the overlap even more. i thought in terms of content it kinda felt like CFA L3 type material. portfolio mgmt, market analysis, broad trading strategies and the like.
all this talk about CAIA is getting me hungry…
How long do you think one should allow for the L1 exam?
i’d say L1 is 2/3rds of a CFA level and L2 is equivalent to a full CFA level in terms of workload. its very interesting though - it really rounds out your buy side education. there were readings in L2 i didn’t find anywhere else - on tax strategies, on trading strategies, on leverage strategies, on convertible arb. highly recommended, but a bit pricey at almost 2500.
The CAIA is a great study program, but I would say the L1 is closer to half a CFA level. The source material is only 1,000 pages compared to 2.7-3.0 K for the CFAI notes.
It is a very informative and useful program. Actually, I see that CFAI is under some heat from CAIA now. They (CFAI) have added new chapters into L2 this year (Real Estate and more stuff on hedge funds).
Agree. CFAI seems to be trying to play a little defense.
I thought CFA and CAIA were mutual partners as the CAIA would have never existed without CFA board members?
don’t know about the board members, but there is nothing better than a healthy competition.
The CAIA tests the entire CFA ethics portion in the level 1 exam…its obviously very connected with the CFA. I was under the impression that they are hoping to make CFA+CAIA a “hedge fund investment management” standard instead of making the two unrelated designations compete.
hey stern, when are you taking CAIA L2? i’m plannning maybe September if my life is still in shambles. its either that or i focus strictly on finding solid companies which i think might have a higher return. but to tell people you did CAIA is super cool, “what is that?”…“its nothing, just jiberrish”.