CAIA, Worth doing?

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N.VanCandidate

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What you think?
Aanyone done it?
Easier or harder than CFA?
Recognized in the industry or not really?
 
Of course many people have done it and passed - it all depends on what you want to do with your future.
From your questions this exam may not be for you at the moment, at least if you do not know whether it’s harder or easier than CFA. Sorry.
 
N.VanCandidate Wrote:
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> What you think?
> Aanyone done it?
> Easier or harder than CFA?
> Recognized in the industry or not really?
1)It’s Ok. They really go deep in AI
2) I have passed L1 but not taking L2 anytime sooner as it doesn’t have any advantage in short term.
3) Easier
4) Not really. Check any job website and use CAIA as a search word. You will see it.
Also there is CAIA forum on AF
 
What you think? Expensive! Interesting. Makes you seem like you know what you’re talking about at cocktail parties. Not sure how beneficial the info is in actual practice.
Aanyone done it? Level 1 last March.
Easier or harder than CFA? I’d say a bit easier than Level 1, but not much. I put in a lot more time than I planned on to pass.
Recognized in the industry or not really? No
 
I have done both CFA and CAIA. CAIA is easier, but it definitely has the ability to be extremely tough in the future. There is some great material in it. I would recommend it, especially if your company is paying for it. It is becoming more an more recognizable. Overall I think it is a great program.
 
I think the CFA is cheapening the CFA by making all these different designations.
Just have the CFA, and get rid of the others.
I fear the CFA is gonna be a crappy dime a dozen designation in the future, so im wondering what else i can do? I guess experience is the key
 
I completed CAIA L1 in September/2008 and CAIA L2 in March/2009.
CAIA is worth it for the knowledge - ignoring everything else. I was kinda sad when it was over since the material was so interesting.
CAIA is not worth it for getting job placement at this point, IMO. However, the program is getting bigger (their graphs show approximately exponential growth) and they can easily make it much harder with more levels, so maybe consider value-investing in the designation.
 
CAIA is not worth it.
I did get questioned on it in the interview,but with or without it, i don’t think it holds much sway.
its more expensive, much easier, much less useful.
i wouldn’t pay to take the exam.
 
I completed CAIA level 1 in March and will take level 2 in Sept. I think it is definitely worth considering if you are interested in alternative investments . The program is very interesting and gets into coverage areas not included in the CFA or grad school programs.
Is it easy? Depends on your background. Right now lots of people from the AI world are taking the exam, possibly contributing to higher pass rates. Give it a few more years of growth and that may change (this happened with the CFA, original pass rates were above 90%). CAIA Level 1 was more challenging than I expected, and as the designation grows I wouldn’t be surprised if the exam questions get more difficult.
Will it get you a job? Probably not. But I’ve noticed it showing up on a lot more business cards in the past two years so it can’t hurt.
 
> What you think?
That really comes down to your own career aspiration.
>Aanyone done it?
Hardly!
>Easier or harder than CFA?
Well, I think that depends on your own educational and work background. Most people found the CFA materials, at least for big part of L1 and L2, has mostly repeated what they’ve learned at the graduate business school. On the contrary, CAIA has covered some of the more current topics in investment.
> Recognized in the industry or not really?
I would said it has fairly good reputation in the AI industry. But outside of that it’s still a new kid to the block. But I believe its reputation will gain over time.
 
Sorry, not hating but I have never heard of this designation until recently. Maybe seen 1 job posting if that asking for this (mind you it was listed last in the sentence after MBA, CFA, FRM). All these new designations are just cheapening the investment industry. Like it or not, the CFA is the gold mark.
 
CFA I didn’t make the CAIA………..to respond to earlier post
they (CFAI )include some Alternative investments in the curiculum, but not as detailed.
CFA program will focus more on portfolio mangement and how alternative investments
could contribute to portfolio performance.
if you can afford the time and money, I think that the CAIA material is great to learn.
if looking for something that will have a greater influence on career, look at CFA
CFA is more difficult than CAIA in terms of time required to finish the entire program and also the total amount of material to learn….expect to dedicate about 3-5 years for CFA versus 1 1/2 to maybe 3 at the most for CAIA….of course people could take much longer, but I would estimate these figures to be the average time needed to complete.
Money not a concern…If one doesn’t have a Finance Masters degree or MBA, it would be more valuable to spend the same time on one of those instead of CAIA. CFA will take longer than all to finish and not as versatle as an MBA but is the absolute best for Portfolio Management, security analysis and investment research. MBA is best for I Banking etc, but also is a great compliment to CFA. Master Finance is probably best for Corp. Finance…..
 
Any more thoughts out there from folks who have completed CAIA?
completed the CFA, and thinking about CAIA and/or MBA while amidst this recession.
 
Hi there,
I am currently enroled in the CFA Program and definietly plan to do the CAIA after I finish.
One of my friends runs the hedge fund department of one of the largest banks in Europe. They create umbrella hedge funds. Everybody in his team has to go through a 2-year training program which includes the CAIA. He thinks the program has immense potential.
Here in Europe, literally nobody, apart from my one friend and his team have ever heard of the CAIA, but I don’t think it will remain like that for long.
I currently work in AI and really want to specialise in that area. Thus I thinkt he CAIA is suitable for me.
Getting a job based on the CAIA Designation?
I don’t think so. Just as little as I think you’ll get a job based solely on your CFA designation. I see both these qualifiactions as a bonus, but never as the sole determining factor. I’ve noticed that the fact that I’m a CFA candidate has openend many doors already in terms of getting interviews and offers, but that’s also based on the fact that I have several years of experience in the industry.
 
Really doubt it will help you get a job, but it’s good knowledge to have and less theoretical than the CFA which means you’ll actually learn a little bit more about the industry.
Why I’m doing it:
A) Intellectual curiosity: I like reading and studying this stuff and the challenge.
B) To create sort of an alternate transcript to offset some bad grades in college.
C) Because AI is an interesting, expanding and diverse world to work in so it’s good to learn more about it. I didn’t even know most of this stuff existed until the CAIA exam and
I don’t see a huge point in doing the CAIA without the CFA. Think of the CFA as the batchelors degree, the prerequisite to the industry. The CAIA is kind of like getting a 1 year masters degree.
The cost? I learned more from the CFA than I did from undergrad and probably spent 100 times more for college. So good value in my opinion.
 
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