Insight into CAIAA curriculum changes and alternative investments focus

Wed., Apr 02 - Opalesque [excerpt]

By Kirsten Bischoff

The Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst Association (CAIAA) the not for profit organization that works to promote high standards of professional conduct in the alternative investment field, opened registration on Tuesday (April 1) for the Level I and Level II examinations being held in September.

"This industry is changing very quickly and dramatically, which makes it essential for us to keep the curriculum current by adding new developments as quickly as possible into the program," [Craig Asche, executive director of the CAIA Association,] explained.

The association points to the large number of institutional investors becoming more active in the alternative assets arena. "They have a serious fiduciary responsibility, and this is just one additional step for them to be sure that they are using properly trained individuals." Asche also pointed out that one reason they focus on the buy-side in this program is to encourage the end user of these investment vehicles to increase their knowledge. "It establishes an important bar for the industry and hopefully from there everyone grows their own specialized skills." 

The Level I curriculum will remain the same for September, but the Level II curriculum, which includes topic specific readings has received an overhaul targeting areas based on recommendations from within the CAIAA's membership.  Based on new industry developments some of the new topics included in this year's Level II readings are "Private Equity and Hedge Fund Convergence" which is a history of the two sectors focusing on similarities and differences and how the lines are blurring, "Unwinding Hedge Funds", which the CAIAA believes is an important long-term subject that candidates should have knowledge of, as well as "Hedge fund replication", and "Hedge fund contagion/systemic risk".

As Asche explained, the CAIAA is proactive on changing the curriculum to stay up to date - especially the academically challenging advanced topics readings - in order to reflect new developments in the industry as it is important those receiving the designation are learning things that can be put immediately into practice. As he points out, "Time is a precious commodity and you want to maximize your utility of it."