CAIA Question and Answer Thread

Greetings to all, My name is Ian Cappelletti and I am a representative from the CAIA Association. CAIA is expanding its outreach efforts in order to better inform financial professionals working with alternative investments and others who would benefit from taking our program. Please use this space to ask whatever questions you may have about the CAIA program and I will be happy to answer them. I will also periodically update this thread with CAIA related events, news, and the like. Very best!

Wow great initiative. This designation has some really interesting curriculum and it was high time that the Association went out and reached people . For the starters, I’d like to know if the Association has any plans for offering merit-based scholarships to deserving candidates (not on the basis of region/caste/sex but purely on the basis of merit). Although I have already paid my fees for the exam and this won’t benefit me, but merit-based scholarships is one area which CAIA Association should really look at.

CAIA is proud to announce the association’s sponsorship of and representation at this year’s 17th Annual GAIM International 2011 on June 20 to 23. Caroline Bault, CAIA’s Managing Director of Global Business Development, will be in attendance. Feel free to stop by CAIA’s booth on any of those days. Of note, CAIA members will receive a 15% discount toward conference registration fees. Please visit our event page for more information: http://bit.ly/mfFqQX. We hope to see you there!

Thank you for being supportive! We are not awarding any merit-based scholarships at this time but will certainly keep the idea in mind. We are currently exploring new ways of demonstrating CAIA’s interest in working with students and educational institutions, so any other ideas are welcome! In case you haven’t heard, CAIA does partner with highly respected academic institutions to provide scholarships to students looking to further their education in alternatives. Read more about the CAIA Academic Parternship Program on our website: http://caia.org/value-and-benefits/caia-academic-partnership-program .

Hi all. In case any of you will be attending the Family Office/Private Wealth Management Forum this year, come be friendly! CAIA is proud to announce the association’s involvement with and representation at this year’s Opal Financial Group’s annual Family Office/Private Wealth Management Forum on July 18 to 20. Delegates from the CAIA Association will be in attendance. Of note, CAIA members receive a 15% discount toward conference registration fees. See more details at: http://caia.org/caia-community/events/2011-07-18/opals-family-office-and-private-wealth-management-forum

Regarding the Level 2 Essay/Short Answer questions, are there penalties for including “neutral answers” (answers that are not necessarily right accordingly to the curriculum but not necessarily wrong) in your answer which also includes the right one.

Specifically if the question had asked for listing and explaining two (2) items and there are 4 possible answers. And as a test taker, you explain all four of them but one of the explanations was not correct.

@epyon Thank you for the question! There is no penalty, like a deduction of already awarded grade points, for providing neutral or wrong answers/explanation.

@epyon and others of interest When a constructed-response question asks you to provide a specific number of examples, you will only be scored on the number of examples requested. For example, if a constructed-response question asks for a list of three examples, you will only be scored on the first three examples you provide. If you provide more than three examples, those after the first three will not be scored. Feel free to post any other curriculum/ grading questions you might have!

When stating the answer to an essay question that requires a calculation is it acceptable to just give the key strokes and the solution from your calculator or do you need to show the actual formula? For instance, if you are asked to calculate the IIRR can you just put CF0 = X CFJ = X CFJ = X, IRR = X?

My membership is up for renewal later this year. I have a few questions. 1. What happens if I do not wish to be a member any longer? 2. What would I need to do if I decide to become a member again? 3. Do I need to retake either exam to regain my membership? Thanks.

Seeing as the required texts contain very few questions why doesn’t the CAIA produce their own set of questions outside of the study guides?

What percentage of the Level 2 exam score do the essay questions represent?

Great to have so many questions! @big ML The exam user will receive credit for putting down their keystrokes. However, very few of the formulas on the exam they will find in a financial calculator. Sample tests are not available from the CAIA Association. About 50% of our candidates do use a preparatory program provider. Many of these providers offer sample exams. We offer links to preparatory providers under More Resources on our Curriculum page (http://caia.org/caia-program/curriculum/more-resources). @cfainnyc Essay questions represent 30% of the Level 2 exam.

@CFAvsMBA If your membership expires, you will lose all membership benefits as well as the right to use the designation. It is our policy currently that lapsed members are not required to retake exams or pay penalties if they choose to rejoin. We ask that you and all members make sure that your contact information on our site, caia.org, is up to date in case we wish to inform you of any change to this policy.

FYI, the current issue of the Journal of Financial Planning features an article about alternatives and how taking the CAIA prepares financial planners to best recommend alternative investments to their clients. The article includes quotes from Keith Black, Associate Director of Curriculum at CAIA. Check it out!: http://www.fpanet.org/journal/CurrentIssue/TableofContents/InvestigatingAlternativeInvestments/

icappelletti Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > @CFAvsMBA > > If your membership expires, you will lose all > membership benefits as well as the right to use > the designation. It is our policy currently that > lapsed members are not required to retake exams or > pay penalties if they choose to rejoin. We ask > that you and all members make sure that your > contact information on our site, caia.org, is up > to date in case we wish to inform you of any > change to this policy. Mr. Cappelletti, I will not be renewing my membership. Aside from not having a role demanding that I display the letters, I’m not pleased about the fee increase. I realize more is being given to members, but $350 is a bit steep given I pay membership dues out of my own pocket. I’ll keep my email current on the CAIA website. In the future I will renew my membership once I attain a role demanding that I display this designation on my signature. Very Truly Yours, CFAvsMBA

icappelletti Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > If your membership expires, you will lose all > membership benefits as well as the right to use > the designation. CFAvsMBA, you can still reference the CAIA designation on your resume or bio without paying the CAIA annual fees every year. Use wording like this: RESUME: * Awarded the CAIA (Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst) designation in 2010 BIO: “CFAvsMBA was awarded the CAIA designation in 2010.”

Totally agree with above. Even the FRM does not require payment of membership fees for using the designation. I am sure that their member as well as applicant pool would have gone up substantially after they took this decision. Maybe CAIA Association could consider having two slabs for those who wish to avail their services and those who just wish to use the designation. e.g. Charge nominal fee of $50 as annual dues to keep your right to use the designation and charge $400 as regular membership dues for those who wish to avail of their suite of services. This would also allow the association to gauge how many people are actually willing to pay for the services.

Dear icappelletti, I hold the IAQ and IMC as was required by my employer. I am focusing on distributing alternative products and feel this is an area I would like to pursue as my career develops so naturally the CAIA is a suitable further qualification for me to sit. Can you tell me what complexity of maths I should expect during the CAIA qualification? Does it differ much from the IMC? Thanks, Sam