Foundations
Deepen your knowledge of alternative asset classes and structured investments with our Foundations course series.
Alternative investing education with CAIS IQ
How We Partner
Leading with learning
Our interactive learning tool, CAIS IQ, is designed to help independent financial advisors build confidence and lead more valuable client conversations about alternatives. As part of the CAIS platform, CAIS IQ allows you to learn relevant alternative investing concepts at your own pace.
Your own educational journey
CAIS IQ gives you the autonomy to choose a learning path aligned with your goals and motivations. By encouraging a deeper understanding of alternative strategies and products, we help break down barriers to investing in alts, making the overall process faster.
Get ahead with CAIS IQ courses
Thematic
Broaden your understanding of current alternative investment themes with thematic courses and video content.
Products
Learn about specific products and alternative asset managers available on the CAIS platform, along with their competitive differentiators, investment strategies, risks, and processes.
- Courses Available
- 180+
- Foundations Courses
- 20+
- CE Credits Provided
- 3500+
Earn CE credits while you learn
Get familiar with a breadth of alternative asset classes and structured notes by completing our Foundations series and earn continuing education credits toward your CFP® or CIMA® certifications. The following CAIS IQ courses are eligible for credit.
Foundations of Alternative Investments
The course offers an overview of the foundations of alternative investments including the history and evolution of alternative investments and their potential role in portfolios.
Foundations of Private Debt
This course seeks to provide learners with an overview of private debt, including different types and subcategories of private debt, potential benefits and noteworthy risks for lenders and borrowers, and key vocabulary terms.
Foundations of Private Equity
This course seeks to provide learners with an overview of private equity, including its core foundations, characteristics of its value creation, the different private equity categories, the potential risks associated with private equity, and a glossary of terms.
Foundations of Private Real Estate
This course will give learners an overview of private real estate, as well as a list of the main characteristics and features of investing in private real estate, and a brief explanation of the different types of sectors.
Foundations of Hedge Funds
This course seeks to provide learners with an overview of hedge funds, including key characteristics of the asset class, its general lifecycle, different types of hedge funds, potential value-add characteristics, and associated risks.
Foundations of QOZs
This course seeks to provide learners with an overview of the Qualified Opportunity Zones program, including a summary of Qualified Opportunity Funds, the potential tax benefits of QOZs, and the potential benefits and risks associated with QOFs.
Foundations of Structured Notes
This course is designed to provide a broad overview of the features, benefits, and risks associated with structured notes. It also delves into the different categories of structured notes—growth, yield, and protection notes—and how they may be implemented to seek to enhance returns, diversify income, or preserve principal.
Foundations of Real Assets
This course is designed to provide a broad overview of the features, potential benefits, and risks associated with investing in real assets, along with the advantages and disadvantages of different categories of real assets.
Foundations of Private Infrastructure
This course seeks to provide learners with an overview of key aspects of infrastructure investing, major sectors and subsectors within infrastructure, types and key attributes of an investable infrastructure asset, stages and investment vehicles of infrastructure investing, main categories, potential benefits, and key risk considerations.
Introduction to Alternatives
Learn the basics of investing with alternatives and structured notes with the latest from our educational blog series.
