Director's Comments

CAIA: partnering with top academic institutions to introduce students to the world of alternative investments

Last month I mentioned that we had launched the CAIA Academic Partnership Program to encourage academic institutions around the globe to incorporate alternative investment education into their mainstream curriculum.

This month, it gives me great pleasure to announce the CAIA Association's Inaugural Academic Partner – HEC Montréal, the first business school in North America to hold the three most prestigious accreditations in management education: AACSB International (United States), EQUIS (Europe) and AMBA (United Kingdom). The School was selected as a CAIA Academic Partner because it recognizes the important role of educating tomorrow's investment leaders today through a combination of academic rigor and practitioner relevant material. By adopting a significant portion of the CAIA Program curriculum, HEC Montréal assures that its students gain exposure to the very latest developments in alternative investment research and analytics. In addition, as a CAIA Academic Partner, the School is able to offer scholarships to meritorious HEC Montréal students to help them attain the CAIA designation. CAIA scholarships are also available for eligible professors.

Too often I have heard MBA graduates complain that what they learned in their studies offered little in terms of practical application. This highlights a fundamental challenge that academic institutions face. What is their role? Is it to teach specific skills, things that one might use professionally on a daily basis, or to teach students how to reason through problems and design solutions? The former prepares graduates so they can hit the ground running; the latter gives them a framework for approaching and ultimately solving a variety of problems they will face over the course of their professional careers. Too much of either may end up inhibiting one's long-term potential.

As with many things in life, the ideal lies somewhere in-between. That is why we structure our program to not only teach the requisite technical skills but also impart a broad understanding of and appreciation for the complexities surrounding institutional portfolio management and the various methodologies that can be employed to manage these complexities. There are no right answers; portfolio management remains as much an art as it is a science, but knowing all the available tools and approaches makes it more likely that one will be able to paint a masterpiece.

E. Craig Asche
Executive Director

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Exam Updates

September 2010 Exam Registration is Open

• Register for an exam today.
• Exam Dates:
  • Level I Exam Session: September 13 - 24, 2010.
  • Level II Exam Session: September 20 - October 1, 2010.
• Exam registration closes August 2, 2010.

Scheduling an examination appointment:

Pearson VUE testing centers are open to scheduling for the September 2010 CAIA exam period. We strongly recommend scheduling your exam appointment with them as soon as possible to ensure a seat at your preferred testing center. All exams are scheduled directly through Pearson VUE. Please log in to your CAIA Account and follow your personalized scheduling instructions to schedule the appointment exam.

September 2010 Study Guides Errata

Please be sure to note the latest Study Guide Errata for the next exam session

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Alternative Viewpoints... powered by CAIA

European Fund Regulations: Fad or the New De-Facto Global Standard?
Special to AllAboutAlpha.com by: Ahmet Peker, CAIA, Deka Investments

The relentless German drive for hedge fund regulation has raised the hackles of many over the past few months. The latest to raise concerns about the EU's AIFM Directive is freshly-minted UK Prime Minister David Cameron, who sees the protectionist slant of German proposals as a threat to London's hedge fund industry. The protectionist elements of the AIFM Directive may eventually be toned down, but the apparent adoption of UCITSIII as a sort of de facto global stamp of approval may ensure that European policies have extra-territorial implications for years to come.

In his post, Ahmet examines his firm's proprietary database to analyze the current universe of UCITS hedge funds.

To continue, please click here.

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Chapter Events

BOSTON:
At the educational event on Tuesday, June 8, a panel of experts with unique perspectives from various segments of the investment industry, including a ratings agency, an investment manager and an investment consultant, discussed the topic of "Sovereign Debt: Profit or Loss?"

CANADA:
A networking event was held on June 9 in Toronto. Members, candidates, and guests also enjoyed the Macallan educational experience by learning how to better savor the unique characteristics of their whisky and by sampling their product. Marc Laverdiere, The Macallan Ambassador in Canada was in attendance.

On Wednesday, May 5, the Canada chapter hosted an educational event in Toronto on "Investing in Timber." The program focused on why institutions invested in timber as a long-term asset class and how it affected their overall portfolio's risk and return metrics. View the presentation and other resources.

CHICAGO:
Thursday, July 15: Educational Event
Save the date. CAIA Chicago will be circulating evites to their event on the "Current State and Trends in the Private Equity and Distressed Debt Markets" soon.

Wednesday, July 28: Networking Event
Stay tuned - details will be available soon.

CAIA Chicago hosted a networking event at Poag Mahoney's for members, candidates and other professionals interested in alternative investments on Thursday, May 27.

FRANCE:

On Tuesday, June 8, members, candidates and interested professionals were invited to attend an educational event organized by the CAIA membership in France. Vincent Levita, founder of OFI Infravia, gave a presentation on "Infrastructure Investing: The New Eldorado?".

GERMANY:
On Tuesday, June 1, CAIA members and candidates attended a networking event at the Park Café in Munich to socialize, welcome new members and celebrate with those who recently passed the CAIA exams.

HONG KONG:
On Thursday, June 17, members attended an educational event to hear Paul Keogh, Chief Investment Officer at RREEF Asia Pacific discuss: "What opportunities have arisen on the property landscape and which real estate investment strategies will outperform: an Asian Perspective."

IBERIA:
Dr. Eckhard Freimann from Credit Suisse gave a presentation on the topic of "Insurance-linked Strategies" at an educational event on Wednesday, May 12 in Barcelona. View the slides from this event.

LONDON:
Wednesday, June 23: Educational Event
Mark Gilbert, Bureau Chief of Bloomberg News will present, "Complicit: How Greed and Collusion Made the Credit Crisis Unstoppable." Mr. Gilbert discusses his new book and provides lessons on how to deal with the next crisis.
View details and register.

Wednesday, July 28: Educational Event
Details will be available soon on the CAIA London page.

On June 16 The CAIA London Chapter invited all members and candidates to attend their social event.

On Tuesday, May 18, CAIA London, in conjunction with The Global Absolute Return Congress, held a networking event at the Landmark Hotel. Read and comment on the post event blog entry: Blue Sky Thinking

NEW YORK:
CAIA New York held another well-attended networking event, attracting over 100 members and candidates at the Papillon on Wednesday, May 26.

SAN FRANCISCO:
On Wednesday, June 9, CAIA San Francisco organized a networking event to welcome new members and celebrate with those who recently passed the CAIA exams.

SINGAPORE:
Members and candidates gathered for a networking event at Alcova on Friday, May 21.

SWITZERLAND:
Thursday, June 24: Educational Event
An educational event will be held for members and candidates from the Ticino region (including Lugano and Milan). Speakers will address the topic, "Reinventing the Value Proposition of Hedge Funds in a Post Crisis Environment: How to Give Investors Access to Hedge Funds". View details and register.

On Thursday, June 3, a networking event, which attracted over 100 registrants, was held at Lakeside in Zurich.

EVENTS AT NON-CHAPTER LOCATIONS:

Tuesday, June 22: Networking Event in Dallas, Texas
Wednesday, June 23: Networking Event in Seattle, Washington
Monday, June 28: Networking Event in Tokyo, Japan

On Tuesday, May 25, CAIA members in Texas held their first educational event in Houston. Sanjay Yodh, Managing Director, Alternative Strategies gave a presentation on "Accessing Alternatives Strategies: Practical Considerations in Implementing Risk Management and Asset Allocation Concepts." View presentation slides.

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CAIA Out Front

Niagara Institutional Dialogue
Monday, June 21 – Tuesday, June 22
Ontario, Canada

Chris Holt, CAIA Association's Director of Industry Relations (Americas), will be chairing a two-day symposium for institutional investors June 21 and 22 in Niagara-on-the-Lake outside of Toronto. The "Niagara Institutional Dialogue" brings together approximately 30 leading Canadian pension funds and aims to be an informal "exchange of ideas, knowledge and best practices" for Canadian institutional investors. Keynote speakers at this invitation-only gathering include several alternative investment authors and thought-leaders such as Rick Bookstaber ("A Demon of our Own Design"), Scott Patterson ("The Quants"), Angelo Calvello ("Environmental Alpha") and William Shadwick (creator of the "Omega Ratio" used by hedge fund analysts). View registration details.

Chris Holt chaired a seminar hosted by BMO Capital Markets (Bank of Montreal) on Wednesday, June 16. The afternoon event covered the integration of alternative investments into a portfolio of traditional asset classes and featured leading Canadian alternative investment consultants and investment managers, including CAIA Association member Bill McKay, a Portfolio Manager at Cidel Financial Group. Attendees included family offices and individual investors who were active in the alternative investment sector.

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