An independent, unofficial guide to the CAIA (Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst) Level I exam — not affiliated with, endorsed by, or reviewed by the CAIA Association.
INTROREALESTATEPEPRIVDEBTNATRES HFDIGITALRISKETHICS
| Domain | Weight | Focus |
|---|---|---|
| Introduction to Alternative Investments | ~15–20% | Structures, fees, benchmarking, illiquidity/diversification concepts, statistical properties of alt returns. |
| Real Assets: Real Estate | ~8–10% | Cap rates, NOI, leverage, valuation approaches, core-to-opportunistic risk styles. |
| Private Equity | ~10–12% | LBOs, venture stages, MOIC/TVPI/DPI/RVPI, carried interest & hurdles, deal terms. |
| Private Debt | ~5–8% | Direct lending, mezzanine, unitranche, covenants, expected loss, seniority. |
| Real Assets: Natural Resources & Commodities | ~8–10% | Contango/backwardation, roll yield, convenience yield, timberland/farmland, inflation hedging. |
| Hedge Funds | ~13–15% | Strategy classification, "2 and 20," hurdles, high-water marks, liquidity terms, leverage. |
| Digital Assets | ~8–10% | Consensus mechanisms, custody, smart contracts, DeFi, volatility & correlation. |
| Risk Management, Due Diligence & Regulation | ~8–10% | VaR, stress testing, operational due diligence red flags, regulatory bodies. |
| Professional Conduct & Ethics | ~8–10% | Fiduciary duty, conflicts of interest, fair dealing, MNPI, the CAIA Member Contract. |
The real Level I exam is 210 multiple-choice questions (3 options each) split across two 2h15m sessions, drawn from all 9 domains in a mixed order. This portal instead offers a focused, timed testlet per domain — pick one domain and work through every original question currently live for it, against a rough pacing clock (~1.3 min/question, matching real exam pacing). Treat this as domain-by-domain drilling, not a full-length two-session replica.
The CAIA Association does not publish numeric scores or a fixed passing percentage in advance — each exam form's passing score is set per administration by a standard-setting process. The accuracy percentage shown after a mock testlet here is compared against an illustrative 65% self-check line only, not any official or predictive pass mark.