CAIA Level II with Musa Shaikh

CAIA Level II is the advanced examination of the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst programme.

It focuses on applying alternative investment knowledge to institutional portfolios, risk management, asset allocation, manager selection and portfolio construction.

The standard CAIA Charter Program consists of:

• CAIA Level I
• CAIA Level II

Under the standard CAIA pathway, yes.
Eligible CFA Charterholders can use CAIA's One Exam Advantage to proceed directly to Level II.

Yes. Eligible CFA Charterholders in good standing with a verifiable CFA digital badge can access the direct-to-Level-II Stackable Credential route.

The 2026 curriculum includes:
• CAIA Ethical Principles
• Institutional Asset Owners
• Asset Allocation
• Risk and Risk Management
• Methods and Models
• Accessing Alternative Investments
• Due Diligence and Selecting Managers
• Volatility and Complex Strategies
• Universal Investment Considerations
• Emerging Topics

The current topics include:

• Bitcoin, Web 3.0 and DeFi
• Private equity value creation
• Forecasting private equity returns
• Rebalancing illiquid portfolios
• Managing liquidity for capital calls

Assessing long-term investment performance

Level II contains:

100 Multiple-Choice Questions

Yes.

Level II contains:

Three Sets of Constructed-Response Questions

These are often described as essay-type questions, although responses should generally be concise and directly address the requirements.

The examination is:

• 70% Multiple Choice
• 30% Constructed Response

Under the current 2026 examination format:

• Section 1 – 130 minutes
• Optional break – 30 minutes
• Section 2 – 130 minutes

The overall scheduled test-centre session is approximately five hours.

For 2026:

• CAIA Ethical Principles – 10%
• Emerging Topics – 10%

are tested exclusively through constructed-response questions.

Yes.

Institutional Asset Owners, Asset Allocation, Risk Management, Methods and Models, Alternative Investment Access, Due Diligence, Complex Strategies and Universal Investment Considerations can potentially contribute to constructed-response testing.

The current 2026 Blueprint gives Methods and Models approximately 12%–15% of the MCQ component, the largest dedicated MCQ weighting range.

Yes. Asset Allocation is a major curriculum area.

Yes. Asset Allocation is a major curriculum area.

Yes. The Asset Allocation section includes asset-allocation processes and Mean-Variance Optimisation – MVO.

Yes.

Rebalancing is specifically included and has received increased attention in the 2026 curriculum, particularly for portfolios containing illiquid assets.

Yes.

Liquidity and funding risk, private-market capital calls and illiquid-portfolio management are important Level II concepts.

Yes.

Candidates study:

• Investment-process due diligence
• Operational due diligence
• Fund terms
• Manager selection
• Tail-risk cases

Yes.

Manager selection is one of the central professional applications in Level II.

Rather than repeating basic hedge-fund definitions from Level I, Level II examines advanced areas such as:

• Hedge fund access
• Replication
• Volatility
• Correlation
• Dispersion
• Complex strategies

Yes.

Private equity appears across the broader curriculum and the 2026 Emerging Topics include private equity value creation and forecasting returns.

Yes.

Level II includes Cryptocurrency Investing and Trading, while the 2026 Emerging Topics also include Bitcoin, Web 3.0 and DeFi.

Yes.

Real estate appears across private-asset valuation, real-asset access and complex cross-border investment considerations.

The current curriculum uses broader sustainability terminology and includes:

• Sustainability Analysis and Application
• Sustainability and Alternative Investments

within Universal Investment Considerations.

Yes.

Geopolitics is explicitly included within Universal Investment Considerations.

CAIA recommends approximately:
200+ Hours of preparation per level.

Level II generally requires greater application and professional judgement because candidates must integrate knowledge across portfolio construction, risk management, due diligence and institutional investment decisions.

It also includes constructed-response questions, which require candidates to formulate rather than simply recognise the answer.

CAIA does not publish a fixed numerical passing score.

Candidates are informed whether they pass and receive a performance report.

CAIA generally offers Level II examinations twice each year:

• March
• September

The 2026 windows are:

• 16–27 March 2026
• 14–25 September 2026

CAIA examinations are delivered through Prometric test centres worldwide.

Online-proctored testing is currently available only by approved exception/accommodation rather than as the standard examination route.

Yes.

The curriculum develops skills across:

• Institutional asset allocation
• Private asset valuation
• Manager due diligence
• Liquidity management
• Private equity value creation
• Long-term portfolio analysis

Yes.

Level II's emphasis on institutional portfolios, liquidity, risk, manager selection and alternative investment access is directly relevant to private credit professionals.

Yes.

Portfolio construction and institutional allocation are central to Level II.

Yes.

Family Offices and the Family Office Model are specifically included within Institutional Asset Owners.

Yes.
Pension Fund Portfolio Management is a dedicated Institutional Asset Owners reading.

Yes.

Sovereign Wealth Funds are explicitly covered within the Level II curriculum.

The preparation includes:

• Complete 2026 curriculum
• Instructor-led lectures
• Asset owners
• Asset allocation
• Risk management
• Methods and models
• Alternative investment access
• Due diligence
• Manager selection
• Complex strategies
• Sustainability
• Geopolitics
• Emerging topics
• MCQ practice
• Constructed-response practice
• Financial calculator preparation
• Revision
• Mock examinations

Performance feedback

The Berkeley programme is taught by Musa Shaikh, specialising in finance, investment and professional examination preparation.

Yes. Candidates in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and throughout the United Arab Emirates can access the programme.

Yes. Candidates in Riyadh, Jeddah and throughout Saudi Arabia can join the programme.

Yes. The live online format allows candidates across the United States of America to participate.

Yes. Candidates across the United Kingdom and Europe can access the programme through live online preparation.

10 lectures, 2 practice sessions and 3 mock examinations.

100 multiple-choice questions plus three constructed-response sets.

Yes. The curriculum covers alternative investments, institutional portfolios, manager selection and private-market application.

No. Berkeley provides examination preparation and a course completion certificate.