Alternative Investments

Whether you are a seasoned professional looking to explore new areas within the alternative investment arena or a new industry participant seeking to establish a solid understanding of alternative investments, Alternative Investments: An Allocator's Approach, Fourth Edition (CAIA Level II curriculum official text) is the best way to achieve these goals.

In recent years, capital formation has shifted dramatically away from public markets as issuers pursue better financial and value alignment with ownership, less onerous and expensive regulatory requirements, market and information dislocation, and liberation from the short-term challenges that undergird the public capital markets. The careful and informed use of alternative investments in a diversified portfolio can reduce risk, lower volatility, and improve returns over the long-term, enhancing investors' ability to meet their investment outcomes. Alternative Investments: An Allocator's Approach (CAIA Level II curriculum official text) is a key resource that can be used to improve the sophistication of asset owners and those who work with them.

This text comprises the curriculum, when combined with supplemental materials available at caia.org, for the CAIA Level II exam.

"Over the course of my long career one tenet has held true, 'Continuing Education'. Since CalSTRS is a teachers' pension plan, it is no surprise that continuing education is a core attribute of our Investment Office culture. Overseeing one of the largest institutional pools of capital in the world requires a cohesive knowledge and understanding of both public and private market investments and strategies. We must understand how these opportunities might contribute to delivering on investment outcomes for our beneficiaries. Alternative Investments: An Allocator's Approach is the definitive core instruction manual for an institutional investor, and it puts you in the captain's chair of the asset owner."
—Christopher J. Ailman, Chief Investment Officer, California State Teachers’ Retirement System

"Given their diversified cash flow streams and returns, private markets continue to be a growing fixture of patient, long-term portfolios. As such, the need to have proficiency across these sophisticated strategies, asset classes, and instruments is critical for today's capital allocator. As a proud CAIA charterholder, I have seen the practical benefits in building a strong private markets foundation, allowing me to better assist my clients."
—Jayne Bok, CAIA, CFA, Head of Investments, Asia, Willis Tower Watson

DR. DONALD R. CHAMBERS, PhD, CAIA, is Associate Director of Programs at the CAIA Association; Chief Investment Officer of Biltmore Capital Advisors and Emeritus Professor at Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania. Dr. Chambers previously served as Director of Alternative Investments at Karpus Investment Management. He is a member of the editorial board of The Journal of Alternative Investments.

DR. HOSSEIN KAZEMI, PhD, is a senior adviser to the CAIA Association. He is the Michael and Cheryl Philipp Professor of Finance at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst; Director of the Center for International Securities and Derivatives Markets; a cofounder of the CAIA Association; and Editor-in-Chief of The Journal of Alternative Investments—the official publication of the CAIA Association and a member of the editorial board of The Journal of Financial Data Science.

DR. KEITH H. BLACK, PhD, CAIA, FDP, is the Managing Director of Content Strategy at the CAIA Association. He was previously an associate at Ennis Knupp and, before that, an assistant professor at Illinois Institute of Technology. He is a member of the editorial board of The Journal of Alternative Investments.