CAI Academy
Academy
The Certificate in Capital Architecture is not an introductory programme. It is a working methodology course for people who are already in the room.
Twelve weeks. Six modules. The complete Capital Architecture Framework — from mandate diagnosis through lifecycle governance.
Next cohort: Q3 2026
Why the CCA Exists
Most training in structured finance teaches instruments. The CCA teaches architecture.
There are many programmes that teach LBO modelling, DCF valuation, credit analysis, and structured product mechanics. These are instrument-level skills. They are useful. They do not address the prior question: how do you design the capital structure in the first place?
The Capital Architecture Framework addresses that question systematically. The Certificate in Capital Architecture teaches it.
The CCA is for practitioners who find themselves in one of these situations:
You are structuring a mandate that sits outside the normal parameters of commercial market instruments — a project that is too risky for senior bank debt, too large for venture capital, too structured for a development grant.
You are an LP or DFI officer evaluating layered capital structures and need a reference framework for assessing design quality at the tranche architecture and governance levels.
You are advising a government or public institution on financing a long-term infrastructure, technology, or social mandate, and the standard procurement finance toolbox is insufficient.
You are building the intellectual infrastructure for a new asset class and need a documented, systematic methodology to share with investors, regulators, and deal counterparties.
Six Modules
The CAF lifecycle, taught in sequence. Each module builds the next.
Capital Architecture Foundations
Weeks 1–2
The Architecture Gap and its causes. Structural equivalence — why the blended finance mechanism is geography-agnostic. The six capital architecture failure modes. CAF overview: seven stages, two gate requirements, scoring methodology. The Mandate Readiness Assessment: P-1 through P-5, gate decisions, remediation.
Output: Completed MRA for a live or practice mandate.
Mandate Cartography and Capital Stack Design
Weeks 3–4
Stage 1: Capital Need Type classification. Risk Topology mapping — eight risk categories. Investor Universe analysis. Replication Potential assessment. Stage 2: Capital stack construction. The Mobilisation Multiplier Model — calculation methodology, domain benchmarks, structural interpretation. Minimum Concessionality iterations. Intercreditor Architecture — IC-1 through IC-5 decision rules.
Output: Completed Stage 1 + Stage 2 documentation with IC architecture decisions and MMM calculation.
Risk Allocation Engineering
Weeks 5–6
Stage 3: Risk Attribution Matrix — 12 categories, classification methodology. Mandate, Execution, and Residual Risk. QGR-3 specification: Probability of Default · Expected Loss · Stress Coverage Ratio · MMM confirmation · Correlation coefficients. Quantitative modelling approaches for each output.
Output: Risk Attribution Matrix and QGR-3 pass/fail documentation for practice mandate.
Return Engineering and Waterfall Mechanics
Week 7
Stage 4: Return architecture per tranche. R-1 through R-7 principles — return floors, priority scheduling, PIK mechanics, management fee conflicts. Waterfall design for simultaneous multi-class return optimisation. Common failure modes in return engineering.
Output: Full return architecture documentation and waterfall mechanics for practice mandate.
Replication Testing and Stress Architecture
Weeks 8–9
Stage 5: Replication Readiness Score /20. Template classification criteria. Stress scenario design — S1 credit cycle compression · S2 regulatory change · S3 mandate failure · S4 LP withdrawal. QGR-5 pass/fail thresholds. Redesign protocol for failing structures.
Output: RRS scoring, four stress scenario logs, QGR-5 pass/fail for practice mandate.
Lifecycle Governance and Regulatory Architecture
Weeks 10–12
Post-Stage: G-1 through G-6 governance mechanisms. ILPA DDQ 2.0 alignment — seven areas. Trigger architecture and escalation protocols. Replication feedback loop design. Regulatory mapping: SFDR 2.0 · AIFMD II · ELTIF 2.0 · AIFMD II LO-AIF requirements. Final assessment: Full CAF application scored /101 across all lifecycle stages.
Output: Complete CAF documentation package for assessed mandate. CCA certification upon pass.
Participants
The CCA is for people doing the work. Not the work adjacent to it.
Deal team practitioners and fund structurers
You are designing capital structures for mandates at the edge of commercial markets. The CCA gives you a systematic working methodology — not a framework adapted from adjacent practice, but a methodology built for the structural problem you are actually solving.
LP officers and DFI investment staff
You are on the receiving end of capital architecture proposals and need a reference standard. The CCA gives you the vocabulary and the gate-by-gate evaluation tools to assess design quality at the tranche and governance levels.
Government finance officials and policy architects
You are designing financing mechanisms for public policy mandates — housing, energy, defense, infrastructure. The CAF provides the systematic methodology for converting a policy objective into a bankable, institutionally compliant capital structure.
Academic researchers
You are building the intellectual foundations of a new discipline. The CCA provides the practitioner grounding that contextualises and sharpens research in structured finance, development economics, and capital markets.
Minimum profile: Participants should have at least two years of substantive experience in capital markets, structured finance, investment management, development finance, or related fields. The CCA assumes fluency with financial markets and basic instrument mechanics.
Format and Logistics
Twelve weeks. Cohort-based. Practitioner-paced.
| Format | Online, cohort-based. Live sessions once per week (90 minutes). Asynchronous module content between sessions. Peer review integrated into module outputs. |
|---|---|
| Duration | 12 weeks |
| Cohort size | Maximum 24 participants per cohort |
| Assessment | Six module outputs · Final assessment: full CAF application scored /101 · CCA certification upon satisfactory completion |
| Language | English |
| Next cohort | Q3 2026 |
| Programme fee | EUR 4,800–6,500 per participant (tiered: NGO/government · practitioner · institutional) |
| Group enrolment | Organisations enrolling three or more participants receive institutional pricing. |
For Organisations
The CAF gives your institution a documented, systematic methodology for capital structure design.
For firms that deploy capital into layered structures — DFIs, impact asset managers, family offices, specialist credit funds — the CCA creates a shared methodology across the deal team. Structures designed by teams trained in the same framework are auditable, transferable, and replicable. They survive personnel transitions. They are legible to LP due diligence.
For firms that evaluate capital architecture proposals — pension funds, insurance companies, institutional LPs — the CCA creates a shared vocabulary for due diligence. LP officers trained in the CAF can evaluate tranche architecture, risk allocation, and governance quality using a systematic reference standard rather than precedent and intuition.
The CAI works with a small number of institutional partners on tailored in-house delivery of the CCA methodology.
Next cohort: Q3 2026.
Applications are open.
Download Programme Overview
Full module structure, assessment format, participant profile, and programme fee schedule.
Download →Institutional Enquiry
Group enrolment and in-house delivery options for organisations deploying or evaluating layered capital structures.
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