CAIA Ethical Principles 2026: Complete Guide to New Updates and Changes
- Dimitri Dangeros, CFA, CAIA
- 5 days ago
- 5 min read
CAIA Ethical Principles 2026 are no longer a side-note – they are the core of the CAIA ethics framework and fully embedded in both Level I and Level II from the 2026 exam year onward. If you are preparing for the CAIA exams, you need to understand not just what the principles say, but how they reshape the curriculum and the exam.
1. What Changed in 2026 vs the Old Ethics Framework
Until 2025, ethics in the CAIA program largely relied on external standards (notably the CFA Code and Standards). From 2026:
Ethics is now anchored in a proprietary CAIA Ethical Principles framework, designed specifically for alternative investments and institutional portfolios.
At Level I, “CAIA Ethical Principles” is a standalone topic, built around:
Ethics, professionalism, and fiduciary responsibilities
The eight CAIA Ethical Principles themselves
At Level II, CAIA Ethical Principles are integrated into the higher-level ethics/professional standards topic and examined in more judgment-heavy contexts (especially in constructed-response questions).
Weighting changes for 2026:
Level I – CAIA Ethical Principles: 10% of the exam (down from 15–25% legacy ethics weight, but with completely new content).
Level II – Ethics / CAIA Ethical Principles: 10% of constructed-response marks (0% of multiple-choice, 10% of essays).
So the exam spends less percentage on ethics but demands far more CAIA-specific understanding and application of CAIA Ethical Principles 2026.
2. The Eight CAIA Ethical Principles 2026 – Structure and Intent
The CAIA Ethical Principles are explicitly organized into two clusters: “Doing the Right Things” (strategy, purpose, client alignment) and “Doing Things Right” (process, execution, risk control).
Doing the Right Things
Ethics and Professionalism at the CoreEthics is not an add-on; investment decisions must integrate sustainability, human rights, inclusiveness, and human capital considerations while putting the client’s interests first and recognizing broader stakeholder impact.
Partnership Over SuperiorityThe client relationship is framed as a partnership, not a technical power imbalance. The principle emphasizes trust, empathy, and open dialogue rather than “we know more than you, do what we say.”
Client-Centric Decision MakingInvestment decisions must be grounded in a deep, specific understanding of client needs, constraints, and objectives, not generic product pushing or benchmark-chasing.
Transparent and Authentic CommunicationCommunication with clients, colleagues, investee entities, and regulators must be clear, accurate, and consistent with actual behavior – no selective disclosure, no marketing gloss that contradicts reality.
Doing Things Right
Evidence-Based PracticesInvestment processes must be grounded in robust analysis and current best practice, not intuition, marketing narratives, or outdated heuristics.
Comprehensive Risk ManagementRisk is multi-dimensional (market, liquidity, operational, legal, reputational). This principle pushes for holistic risk identification, due diligence, and alignment with each client’s specific situation.
Adaptability and Continuous ImprovementProfessionals are expected to keep skills current, adjust to market and regulatory change, and treat learning as a continuous obligation, not a one-time hurdle.
Collaborative ExcellenceEthics and quality are framed as team efforts: peer review, diversity of thought, and cross-functional collaboration should improve judgments, especially in complex or ambiguous situations.
CAIA Ethical Principles 2026 are therefore less “thou shalt / shalt not” and more fiduciary mindset + decision-quality framework.
3. How CAIA Ethical Principles 2026 Are Embedded in the Curriculum
Level I: Foundation and Identification
At Level I, CAIA Ethical Principles 2026 are treated as a discrete topic:
Topic: CAIA Ethical Principles
Sub-areas: Ethics; Professionalism and Fiduciary Responsibilities
Learning objectives emphasize:
Understanding professionalism and fiduciary duty in the investment industry
Identifying and explaining all eight principles and their components
Distinguishing “doing the right things” vs “doing things right”
Applying principles to basic scenarios and historical case studies (e.g., major ethical failures in finance).
Weight: 10% of the Level I exam in 2026.
Implication: you must know the exact content of CAIA Ethical Principles 2026 and be able to map exam scenarios cleanly onto them.
Level II: Application and Judgment
At Level II, CAIA Ethical Principles are pulled into a more advanced ethics / professional standards topic and tested primarily through constructed-response:
Ethics / CAIA Ethical Principles account for ~10% of the essay section and are interwoven into questions on institutional mandates, oversight, and governance.
The focus shifts from “identify the principle” to:
Assessing behavior of asset owners and managers against the principles
Evaluating policies, governance structures, and oversight frameworks
Recommending corrective actions that are principle-consistent
In other words, Level II assumes you already own the vocabulary and tests whether you can use CAIA Ethical Principles 2026 as a professional decision tool.
4. Key Differences vs Pre-2026 Ethics Content
The changes in CAIA Ethical Principles 2026 are not cosmetic. Main structural shifts:
From borrowed to proprietary ethics2026 is the first year where ethics is fully based on CAIA’s own Ethical Principles in both levels, rather than re-using external codes.
From rule-based to principle-basedThe exam is now less about spotting narrow rule violations and more about evaluating whether actions align with:
Client-first fiduciary duty
Stakeholder and societal impact
Evidence-based, risk-aware, collaborative practice
From static to “modernized” ethicsThe principles explicitly reference sustainability, human rights, inclusive practices, and human capital – elements that were not front-and-center in older frameworks.
From isolated ethics topic to integrated judgment lensCAIA’s own positioning of the 2026 curriculum stresses “a codified global ethics standard” and “ethical clarity” as central to managing alternatives and digital assets, not bolt-on content.
For exam purposes, that means you should expect ethics themes to bleed into questions on private equity, hedge funds, digital assets, and institutional governance, not only the dedicated ethics questions.
5. What This Means for Candidates Targeting 2026
If you are studying under the CAIA Ethical Principles 2026 regime:
You cannot recycle CFA ethics prep and expect it to cover this topic. The vocabulary, structure, and some themes are different.
You should treat the CAIA Ethical Principles readings as core text, not optional reading – they define what “good conduct” means for the rest of the curriculum.
For Level I:
Memorize the eight principles and be able to classify scenarios under each.
Understand how professionalism, fiduciary duty, and value creation link to the principles.
For Level II:
Practice writing structured, concise constructed-response answers that explicitly reference the relevant CAIA Ethical Principles and justify recommendations.
Be ready to connect ethics to institutional policies, risk frameworks, and product design.
CAIA Ethical Principles 2026 turn ethics into a distinctive feature of the CAIA Charter, not a generic compliance add-on. If you understand them deeply and can apply them across asset classes and structures, you will be aligned with how the 2026 curriculum and exams are actually designed.
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