as a whole. From the beginning, the CAIA curriculum has also covered private equity, commodities, and real assets, always with an eye toward shifts in the industry. Today, several hundred CAIA members identify their main area of expertise as real estate or private equity, and several hundred more are from family offices, pension funds, endowments, and sovereign wealth funds that allocate across multiple classes within the alternative investment industry. To ensure benefit to the widest spectrum of members, we have developed curriculum subcommittees that represent each area of coverage within the curriculum. Alternative investment areas and products share some distinct features, such as the relative freedom on the part of investment managers to act in the best interests of their investors, alignment of interests between asset owners and asset managers, and relative illiquidity of the investment positions of some investment products. These characteristics necessitate conceptual and actual modifications to the standard investment performance analysis and decision-making paradigms.
Our curriculum readings are designed with two goals in mind: first, to provide readers with the tools needed to solve problems they encounter in performing their professional duties; and second, to provide them with a conceptual framework that is essential for investment professionals who strive to keep up with new developments in the alternative investment industry.
Readers will find the publications in our series to be beneficial, whether from the standpoint of allocating to new asset classes and strategies in order to gain broader diversification or from the standpoint of a specialist needing to better understand the competing options available to sophisticated investors globally. In both cases, readers will be better equipped to serve their clients' needs.
CAIA Level II required readings consist of three parts: this book and the CFA Institute's Standards of Practice Handbook and Current and Integrated Topics Readings. Information about obtaining the last two components can be found on our website, caia.org.Many resources are freely available on our website as well.
We will continue to update the CAIA Level II Study Guide every six months (each exam cycle). The study guide outlines all of the readings and corresponding learning objectives (LOs) that candidates are responsible for meeting. The guide also contains important information for candidates regarding the use of LOs, testing policies, topic weightings, where to find and report errata, and much more. The entire exam process is outlined in the CAIA Candidate Handbook, which is available at caia.org. Candidates can also access a workbook that solves the problems presented at the end of each chapter and other important study aids.
We believe you will find this series to be the most comprehensive, rigorous, and globally relevant source of educational material available within the field of alternative investments.
Acknowledgments
We would like to thank the many individuals who played important roles in producing this book. In particular, we owe great thanks to William Kelly, Chief Executive Officer of the CAIA Association, and our committee members:
Curriculum Advisory Council
• Stephane Amara, CAIA
• Mark Anson, CAIA
• Garry Crowder
• David McCarthy
• Tom Robinson, CAIA
• Hilary Till
• James Tomeo
Hedge Funds, CTAs, and Fund of Hedge Funds Committee
• Jaeson Dubrovay, CAIA
• Mark Hutchinson
• Kathryn Kaminski, CAIA
• Jim Liew
• Hamlin Lovell, CAIA
• Putri Pascualy
• Mark Wiltshire, CAIA
Real Assets (Real Estate, Commodities, Infrastructure, Intellectual Properties, and Natural Resources) Committee
• Tom Arnold, CAIA
• Andrew Baum
• Georg Inderst
• Sameer Jain
• Tom Johnson, CAIA
• David Lynn
• George A. Martin
• Joelle Miffre
• Richard Spurgin
Private Equity and Venture Capital Committee
• James Bachman, CAIA
• Erik Benrud, CAIA
• Douglas Cumming
• Ludovic Phalippou
• Pierre-Yves Mathonet
• Thomas Meyer
• Gitanjali M. Swamy
Due Diligence, Risk Management, and Regulation Committee
• Gordon Barnes, CAIA
• Michal Crowder
• Jason Scharfman
• Christopher Schelling, CAIA
• Sean Gill, CAIA
• Tom Kehoe
• Danny Santiago, CAIA
Asset Allocation, Endowments, Pension Funds, and Sovereign Funds Committee
• Samuel Gallo, CAIA
• James T. Gillies, CAIA
Special credit goes to CAIA staff for their valuable contributions in painstakingly bringing the third edition to completion.
CAIA Staff
• Stephen Abernathy, Associate Director of Research and Publications
• Nelson Lacey, Director of Exams
• Kathy Champagne, Senior Associate Director Exams Administration
• Kristaps Licis, Senior Associate Director of Exams
• Nancy E. Perry, Publications Coordinator
Outside Editor
• Jamie Thaman
About the Authors
Hossein Kazemi received his PhD from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and is a senior adviser to the CAIA Association. He is theMichael 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. He was a managing partner at Schneeweis Partners and Alternative Investment Analytics. He has authored
