So i am planning to take the CAIA level 1 in march and have some questions. I have an MBA in finance but my knowledge about alternative investments is not that much lets say i have basic knowledge. How long do you think it takes to prepare for the exam for beginners.? I plan to study in about 2 weeks so that will take me about 4 months.
2- also what is the best studying techniques? Should i read the book first then do the problems with kaplan or upper mark. Or should i ignore the book and go with the kaplan or upper mark study materials.?
3- which is better Kaplan or upper mark? And are there online lectures helpful or not?
The exam and its materials cost alot so i want make sure i am on the right path before starting
I just passed L1. I also have an MBA in finance, but am also a CFA charterholder. With my background, I found a lot of the first 1/3 of the material to be review, but the last 2/3 of the material was pretty much brand new to me.
I think 4 months is a good time to start studying. I started around late May for the Sept cycle, although to be honest, I probably could have studied for the whole thing in about 3 months. I probably put in ~130 hours of study.
I used Uppermark exclusively (Study Materials and their Test Bank). I didn’t find the extra $100 for the Practice Exam and Final Review to be particularly helpful.
My results were pretty good (I got 5 stronger, 1 higher, and 1 comparable in my score categories), so I think the Uppermark materials worked for me.
As I only used Uppermark, I can’t speak to the quality of Kaplan, or, for that matter, the source Wiley material.
The curriculum has been extensively revamped for March 16 exam. Since I passed March 16 exam, I did not keep track of any changes afterwards. In any case make sure that the curriculum in your third party papers is the same as the current official book.
I would also recommend a Q-Bank (I used Upppermark). You have to buy that new anyway.
for the ethics part, is the standard of practice is the one we should study for it?
also I think I will go with Kaplan and decided to get this package
"The University Essential Self Study Package is an excellent choice for candidates who want a comprehensive CAIA® study program, but would prefer to prepare , practice , and perform on their own. With the help of SchweserNotes™ and our easy-to-use online tools, you can master the difficult CAIA curriculum at your own pace. The University Essential Self Study Package inlcudes:
For me, I read the book and took uppermark exams. Last 2 weeks I went all in on uppermark and used the kaplan secret sauce. I don’t really think I came close to 200 hours but I passed pretty easily, despite wishing I had a little more time to read.
Honestly I wouldnt overthink it too much. Basic textbook plus uppermark qbank plus secret sauce was economical and got the job done for me.