I’ve noticed that for March 2014 exam period this board had less forum members commenting here than for Sep 2013.
Is this an indication of CAIA chapter losing popularity or just AnalystForum forum not being representative of the test takers universe?
There were really only 3 charterholders commenting here for the past year.
I am not talking about the actual charterholders, but about the candidates who were taking the exams.
It appears there was a lot more activity in 2013 than in the last exam window, specifically forum members asking for the advise, sharing their prep and test experiences.
My point was if there aren’t many experienced people responding to advice requests perhaps the candidates just thought it best to stop asking.
The best way to answer your question is to look at the exam enrollment numbers over the past couple of years.
Agreed, but the numbers for March 2014 exam are not published, correct?
I too noticed that few ppl took the exam with me (level 1) a couple of weeks ago (I took it in Dubai). On the other hand I noticed that more ppl are aware of the designation and it is more highly regards than a couple of years back. Some directors in my company believe it’s more useful than the cfa in buyside institutions.
CAIA was never popular. Most that are taking it are taking a gamble that one day it might be big. Seems like a penny stock to me.
I’m guessing the populairty hasn’t hit other continents like the CFA has.
Hi! I think it’s considered as a useful designation and that the CAIA popularity will continue grow.
An interesting threshold will be the 10,000.00 members.
To answer to your question about the number of active members, I guess than some level 1 candidates (like me) found some answers with the existing comments.
Regarding membership numbers - I was looking for membership data and found some bits of interestig info:
CAIA.org mentiones that " CAIA Membership Surpasses 6,500 with New Class of March 2013 Charter Holders’.
Wiki states that “Currently, there are over 6,700 CAIA members”
It looks like membership ranks increased by about 200 during fall testing period.
With roughly 60% pass rate for L2 that means that number of people who took the L2 exam was about 330.
At this rate it will take about 8 yrs to reach 10,000 mark.
Studying now is like buying a pre IPO company.
You are long the CAIA call option. You paid for the premium in time and cash for registration fees and textbook. Let’s hope it will be in-the-money one day.
Not sure if it’s a positive NPV if you include the yearly dues.
The NPV could be highly positive if the yearly dues are paid by your employer…
Last year I had to pay the level 2 registration and dues out of my pocket but this year, my new employer paid for it. I’m glad I have it. I know a fund of funds that is pushing their employees to do it. I’m also getting questions about it from people I meet.
Blu2014, good sleuthing on membership “growth.” But remember, membership count is “net” growth. So based on PR announcements where CAIA has usually announced welcoming “several hundred successful passers of Level II exam,” twice a year, the real test is how many attritions are there as past members drop out. That number must be growing, offsetting new CAIA member add’s and depressing community expansion. Agree it has not yet reached/approached critical mass. With mainstreaming of alternatives, I wonder why?
That’s a different story. Most are not in that position
That’s an excellent point!
I am sure if someone has to pay for membership dues out of his own pocket and is not using designation anymore or sees no value in it they likely would take steps to eliminate such expense.
Sorry, guys, but that isn’t a good point at all. Almost nobody taking these exams (CFA, FRM, CAIA) allows them to lapse. These aren’t quite like the Series 7, which is easy to let lapse because nobody is touting that they have a Series 7 license (except for that d-bag in Boiler Room). Of course, every one has a story about so-and-so who was so bold and maverick, he just let his memberships lapse – what a rock star! But the reality is, these are the extreme minority; maybe 1 out of 100 at most.
If your employer doesn’t pay for it anymore, there’s a good chance that you might be unemployed. If that’s the case, why would anybody want to just let a credential that could help them get a new job just roll off their resume? Most people I know in this position have continued to pay for it out of pocket to keep the credential live. So I believe that any people who have dropped from membership ranks have a minimal impact on the net figure at this point.