Failed CAIA (Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst)? Here's Your Recovery Plan

Pro tip: Contact the exam provider directly for their specific retake policy.

• Arriving with the Prometric Confirmation of Appointment on a phone screen rather than on paper.
  CAIA requires a printed Confirmation of Appointment alongside your ID, and explicitly refuses an electronic version. Print it, check the first and last names match your ID exactly, and put it with your passport the night before.
• Bringing a calculator that is neither a TI BA II Plus nor an HP 12C because it is allowed on some other finance exam.
  CAIA authorizes only those two families. Possession or use of an unauthorized calculator voids your exam results and can lead to suspension of your candidacy, and staff failing to spot it beforehand does not protect you.
• Registering during standard registration when early registration was still open.
  The early registration deadline saves US$400 on a first-time exam registration, US$995 against US$1,395. Diarise the early deadline as soon as the window opens; for the September 2026 cycle it fell on June 8, 2026.
• Assuming you can defer to the next sitting if study goes badly.
  CAIA states you may not postpone from one testing period to another, and deferments are not granted to candidates who fail to schedule an appointment. If you do not sit, you pay the US$795 retake fee for a future cycle.
• Studying a prior year's curriculum edition bought secondhand.
  CAIA revises roughly 10 to 20 percent of exam content annually and states that use of prior editions is not recommended. A curriculum edition is valid only for the calendar year in which the exam is sat, so the 2026 edition covered the March and September 2026 exams and the 2027 edition, published in October 2026, is the one that governs the March 2027 sitting. The digital version comes free with registration anyway.
• Underweighting ethics because it feels like reading rather than finance.
  CAIA Ethical Principles carries a 15 to 25 percent weight range at Level I, second only to Introduction to Alternative Investments. Work scenario questions rather than rereading the standards, because the exam asks you to apply them.
• Expecting a formula sheet on screen.
  The CAIA Exam Handbook states that an equation list is not provided on CAIA exams and that candidates should be familiar with all equations in the curriculum readings. Build and memorise your own sheet from week one.
• Treating Level II as Level I with harder questions.
  Level II replaces the second 100-question section with three sets of constructed-response questions worth 30 percent of the score. Universal Investment Considerations and Emerging Topics are tested only in that format. Practise typing structured answers under a 130-minute clock, not just multiple choice.
• Skipping the optional 30-minute break to save time.
  The break sits between two 130-minute sections and does not extend the second section if you skip it, so skipping buys nothing. It is also the only point at which you can access your locker, eat, or use the restroom without a proctor issue.

• Two levels: Level I (fundamentals) and Level II (advanced topics)
• 200 multiple-choice questions per level in 4 hours
• Covers hedge funds, private equity, real assets, structured products
• Uppermark and Schweser for third-party study materials
• 200-300 study hours per level recommended
• Growing alternative to CFA for hedge fund and PE careers