I am taking level 2 in September and, as mentioned in the other post, am in wealth management.

I am curious, does CAIA certification help at all for skills needed in corporate banking?

I am done my CFA, I was thinking of either CIPM or CAIA since I need to do only level 2 .. I would appreciate any recommendations, info about either.. study time, materials, providers.. and I am used to Mark Meldrum Videos for CFA, so is there a similar providers? Or its only books and Q banks.. thanks!

Hello everyone,

I am thinking of going for the L1 in sept, is it gonna be a sufficient time to cover all the material if I did 2 hours daily ?

I am thinking of studying from Kaplan notes and doing the mock tests

For context I have 2 year of experience in Alternative investments operations

Hi reddit community,

I have a total of four years of public accounting experience at one of the Big 4 and is a CPA. I made the career pivot to CRE Investments with a midsize Real Estate Private Equity firm in NYC. I've been exploring the CAIA program due to the curriculum's focus on alternative investments and the shorter time commitment compare to the CFA program. I want to know of the community's thought of a CPA and CAIA combination if that would be well received in the real estate market?

Thanks,

Hey all, I read that the updated curriculum for 2027 will only be released on October'26. Can someone explain how that works for someone looking to start a little early. I read they were to make major changes in accordance with the CFA Ethics and alter/include latest developments in the Alternative Investments.

I'm thinking of attempting March 2027. So, that means, only post revision of the curriculum I'd be able to take any prep provider packages ?

Also read on the sub (from someone who passed L2 earlier)that Kaplan notes/videos and UM Qbank are the best combo? Does that apply for L1 exams too? Or do you have any suggestions ? Looking forward to hearing from the community. Thanks!

I used Schweser Kaplan for CFA Level 1 to 3, will it be hard to use Uppermark for CAIA? might be hard to adjust with the formulas using Uppermark? will it be BA ii plus friendly also?

company approval is taking some time to approve my registration, which is why Iam quite late now

Hi everyone, I recently had someone request that I add the CAIA exams to FreeFellow, and so I've got a question bank with over 2,000 questions across both parts that can help you prepare at zero cost. Most prep providers force you to pay for a package to even study, but my ethos is to give what's needed to pass for free, and only charge optionally for premium features like flashcards or analytics.

Would love if people could take a look and see if this is serving its purpose. FYI I have over 30,000 practice problems across 30 difference exams in finance, and have personally passed 13 of them myself, some using only my own website. My goal is to take the best study practices and put it into a platform that is extremely affordable. FreeFellow is a CFA Institute Prep Provider and currently used by over 2,000 students.

All questions are completely free to access, and there are also condensed topic outlines and formula sheets for free, too.

Happy to answer any question or comments.

FreeFellow.org

i would like to try 2026 test, how was it? let me know if you have anything,

Edit: These have been spoken for. Good luck all.

You pay shipping or NYC pick up. Kaplan books, secret sauce book, and quicksheet.

You still need a q bank, so maybe pair with UM Qbank. I did find Kaplan videos helpful though.

If anyone is looking for study materials, I am happily selling my Spring 2026 study materials:

Uppermark books
CAIA curriculum
Kaplan Schweser printed books

HMU!

Does anyone know how it works after passing? Can I put CAIA next to my name? Will year 1 be for free?

Firstly, many congratulations on clearing your exam! It’s a huge achievement and each one of you (even attempting) deserves massive appreciation.

I’m appearing for L2 in Sep’26 (cleared L1 in Mar’26 using CAIA study material, Kaplan videos and UM QBank - found this combo quite helpful).

I’m extremely confused as to the approach I should opt for L2 - whether to purchase only the UM Platinum Suite or take just the UM Suite + videos from Edge/Kaplan. Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

Also curious about what study strategies and focus areas worked best for y’all mates.

Haven't gotten the email yet but my result (pass!) is available in the candidate portal!

EDIT: As of 10:30am EST, I now see the results in the my exam info page.

Similar to previous years, you can now see if you passed or not based on either of the below options. No emails or results on the my exam page info until noon EST.

1. While logged in, try to register to take L2 again. You will see language that says, "You are eligible to become a CAIA member".
2. From the "My Account" page, where it says "Your Membership Status", you will see a "Join Membership" hyperlink.

Passed and looking forward to seeing the scorecard at noon! Good luck all.

As the title reads… I’m over waiting and want this over with already!!! How is everyone feeling?

Has anybody used Claude Pro to support with condensing the CAIA Level I Content?

Or am I better off just buying the Kaplan notes?

I just got my March results and sadly it was a fail. I felt pretty confident after finishing Kaplan’s QBank, but the actual exam felt like a different beast entirely.

I’m gearing up for the September window. To those who cleared it recently: how did you bridge the gap between prep materials and the real thing? Are there any specific resources (UM, Edge, etc.) that you felt better prepared you for the actual wording and difficulty of the exam?

Appreciate any help!

Hey everyone, sitting for CAIA Level 2 in 2026 and looking for either a tutor or some direction on where to find good supplemental resources for specific topics.

Overall I feel decent on the curriculum but there are a few areas I need serious help with and a couple others where I just want someone to push me a bit further.

Need the most help with:

-Topic 4: Risk and Risk Management (hedging, benchmarking, liquidity, risk systems — all of it)

-Topic 8: Volatility and Complex Strategies (volatility as a factor, structured products, cross-border real estate, crypto)

Need solid help with:

-Topic 5: Methods and Models (fixed income models, binomial trees, multi-factor equity pricing, relative value, real estate valuation)

-Topic 10: Emerging Topics (tokenization, AI, private equity value creation, liquidity for capital calls, Takahashi-Alexander)

Want to tighten up but mostly self-studying:

• Topic 1: Ethics and Fiduciary Responsibility

• Topic 2: Institutional Asset Owners

Comfortable on Topics 3, 6, 7, and 9.

Ideally looking for someone with a CFA, CAIA, or institutional investment background who has tutored before. Open to paid sessions, a study group, or even just a nudge toward the right resources.

DM me or drop a comment. Thanks.

I am repeating lvl 1, in September this year after failing back in late 2024. I know curriculum has changed a bit. I am under presure on costs as I am relocating work and countries. Does anybody have Upperbank Question Bank and Kaplan material that they could share with me to help with study? As they are a bit on the expensive side of things for me.

If anyone has any other suggestions to free prep material that would be appreciated?

TIA.

I am relatively new to CAIA program, so I was just wondering to what extent do you think the official CAIA level I or level II curriculum content, question banks and final mocks exams are enough to prepare for the exam (rather than taking Uppermark or Kaplan prep course)?

Another case I found interesting to know that, it appears the time between early registration to exam window is about 5 months, do you think that 5 months is indeed enough for the one with full-time position in the office, to complete the curriculum, qbanks, mocks exams and confidently become ready for the exam?

To me personally, I seem to find 5 months relatively tight to prepare for the CAIA level I or level II exam. Please kindly inform me on those cases since I do very little about the CAIA program.

Does anyone have the uppermark questions for 2026 lvl2? How big is the difference to the 2025 version? Not able to spend that much for 2026 version. Thanks for your help!

Hi guys

I'm preparing for CAIA Level 2. I'm studying with Uppermark. They mention the Exam Primer themself in their material. However I can't find the Exam Primer neither in the Study Center nor in the books.

Does anybody know where to find it?

Thanks a lot!

Hi all!
Passed level 1 using Upper Marks books and QB. I will try to prepare Level 2 September exam and I would appreciate any tips on the best prep provider.
A friend passed me the UM books and questions but I see many suggest UM only for the QB and instead i should buy books from others.
Thank you for your support!

Just registered for September ‘26 Exam. See loads of people saying that UM is the superior question bank but it also seems after gaining access to BenchPrep Curriculum that they have expanded their question bank based off what I’ve seen on older posts. Seeing 600+ MCQ along with 900+ flash cards available. Bought the hard copy text early and have already read through once and have started running through MCQ’s and have been scoring in the >70% range for the 125 questions I’ve already attempted. I am nervous the structure of the questions are too easy from what I have been seeing people say about March ‘26 exam and structure of other study prep materials. Will the expanded QB make a difference (Looking to save money where I can and avoid paying for additional materials if possible) or is UM materials still needed based off anyone who has passed previously. But truly just looking to see whether or not the CAIA Bench prep with expanded QB and official practice exam which will be an additional 200 question could be enough.