Multimedia Library

Hear our expert staff and Members speak on topics ranging from practical strategies in hedge fund investing to the importance of education in the alternatives space.

As the landscape of investments undergoes a remarkable shift with 'alternatives' taking center stage, the CAIA Association is taking a leadership role in the development of a modernized and relevant set of fiduciary practices for investment professionals and capital allocators to embrace. With the launch of our Open Comment Period on March 5, we invited all stakeholders to join us on this transformative journey, recognizing the need for principles that not only align with the industry's current trajectory but also lay the groundwork for a sustainable and responsible future for alternative investments.

In this presentation, Keith Black discussed the digital asset and cryptocurrency markets and the innovative solution to build a global, decentralized, and secure network that facilitates payments and other transactions. Keith explored how proof-of-work, such as Bitcoin mining, and proof-of-stake protocols, such as Cardano, are used to secure networks and complete transactions. Behind many of these currencies are real businesses, such as projects built on top of Ethereum smart contracts that facilitate borrowing and lending as well as options and futures trading. Stable coins pegged to USD or EUR can earn yields of up to 7% with minimal volatility. Returns and volatility data was presented, as well as evidence on how digital assets can add return to a diversified portfolio without adding to portfolio volatility. Risks of digital assets were also discussed, including regulatory risks, technology risk, and valuation risk.

ESG is no longer a mere add-on in a portfolio or investment strategy. For an increasing number of investors in alternatives, a thoughtful approach to ESG issues has become table stakes. As the industry continues to define the role of ESG and develop approaches to measure and analyze the effect of these issues on their portfolios, industry professionals must continue to educate themselves about the key trends and developments related to ESG across alternative asset classes. CAIA, in partnership with Nuveen, hosted a thought-provoking webinar series organized exclusively for the benefit of institutional investors across the world. In the second session, we discussed how general partners and limited partners can better align themselves around material ESG issues.

In this presentation, Keith Black, PhD, CAIA, CFA, FDP, Managing Director of Content Strategy at the CAIA Association described and compared the many ways that entrepreneurs and their private equity owners can exit their ownership in a private company. While IPOs have declined in importance in recent years, there has been an increase in strategic mergers, financial mergers, and secondary buyouts. More recently, a growing number of companies have sought to become publicly traded through direct listings and special purpose acquisition corporations (SPACs). Keith’s presentation was followed with a discussion with Cameron Stanfill, CFA, Venture Analyst at Pitchbook Data who provided an update on SPACs and the current market environment for exits in public companies.

The African Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (AVCA) and the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) Association hosted a fireside chat and data presentation on private equity (PE) and venture capital (VC) investing in Africa. William (Bill) J. Kelly, President & CEO of the CAIA Association, and Abi Mustapha-Maduakor, CEO of AVCA, discussed the opportunities and challenges that are shaping the direction of private investment in Africa, including technological and digital innovation, currency risk, and the continent’s demographic dividend. As part of the webcast, AVCA’s CEO presented AVCA's latest research and findings from the 2021 H1 African PE Data Tracker, providing a provisional look at investment, exits and fundraising activity in Africa in the first half of the year.

In a second conversation, Stacy Havener and Aaron Filbeck, CFA, CAIA, CIPM, FDP cover a variety of topics, including the current state of boutique asset managers, building more resilient and balanced portfolios across a number of factors, and what it really means to think like an allocator.

To listen to the "Masters of Scale" podcast by Linda Rottenberg, CEO of Endeavor, "The Next Silicon Valley," access it at: https://mastersofscale.com/linda-rottenberg-the-next-silicon-valley/

Historically, diligence was done a certain way, but that is now shifting significantly. In the latest episode of “This Is Us,” CAIA CEO Bill Kelly and Monel Amin, Founder and CEO of DiligenceVault, discuss the evolution of diligence, and how people are increasingly gravitating toward technology solutions.

How should a professional think about governance? In the latest episode of “This Is Us,” Dr. Margaret Cullen, Founder and Principal at Think Governance, and CAIA CEO Bill Kelly focus on that and much more in an in-depth discussion about the “G” in ESG.

In the latest episode of “This Is Us,” CAIA CEO Bill Kelly and Steve Sears, President and COO at Options Solutions, have a wide-ranging discussion about options including regulation, gamification, a new group of investors, the importance of education, and more. As Sears pointed out, options “force people to think more deeply about their holdings.”

Investing in private equity is a longer-term commitment, one that requires a lot of care and attention. What also needs a lot of attention is an exit strategy, to capitalize on a private investment. In the latest edition of “This Is Us,” Bodhi Research Group founder and CEO Dr. Ranjan Bhaduri discusses this and much more with CAIA CEO Bill Kelly.

In the latest episode of “This Is Us,” Stuart MacDonald, Managing Partner at Bride Valley Partners, explains why constant learning, reading, and curiosity help you stay relevant in an ever-changing industry. As he told CAIA CEO Bill Kelly, “If you didn’t keep ahead of the game, you’re out of it, fairly quickly.”