AIMA

31 January 2008

London, 31 January 2008: The Alternative Investment Management Association (“AIMA”) has announced that its Investor Steering Committee (“ISC”) is to publish the world’s first collaborative educational guide for hedge fund investors.

The guide, which is being developed in association with the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst Association (CAIAA) will be authored by UBS’s Alexander Ineichen, supported by Kurt Silberstein of the California Public Employees’ Retirement Systems (“CalPERS”). It is the first global effort between investors and the hedge fund industry, and will provide access to meaningful and practical information on the nature and activities of the hedge fund industry – including information on hedge fund strategies, performance data, investment processes, and industry and business dynamics.

The AIMA ISC’s global initiative will focus on intermediate level investors such as Fiduciaries, Investment Consultants and Trustees, and has been designed to complement the US President’s Working Group (PWG) Investor Committee’s series of best practices for basic level investors which is due to be published in February 2008.

The AIMA ISC was formed in July 2007 and comprises a number of the world’s leading institutional and other investors with the objective of providing strategic and practical guidance on hedge fund industry activities to the investor community.

Alexander Ineichen, Senior Investment Officer at UBS Asset Management said: “The transformation of the asset management industry from a focus on relative returns towards the absolute return investment philosophy embraced by hedge funds is arguably a big deal. Despite the institutionalization of the hedge fund industry being in full swing for many years, there is still misconception and myth among some institutional investors and their boards, trustees and consultants. This report will be designed to clarify what hedge funds really are and, more importantly, are not.”

Emma Mugridge, Director of AIMA commented: “We have long acknowledged that investors are a vital part of the hedge fund industry. This is the first time that they have had such a meaningful educational role to play and, importantly, the initiative also meets the Financial Stability Forum’s Highly-Leveraged Report (2007) recommendation that industry and investors work more closely to develop positive initiatives.”

“It is also significant that a number of the world’s leading investors will be involved in developing this guide. The ISC has moved at an emphatic speed since it was created in July and the initiative clearly demonstrates that AIMA and the investor community are working closely in tandem.”

AIMA ISC members include Paul Spijkers CEO of ABP Investments US Inc; Jan Straatman CIO of Axial Investment Management; Kurt Silberstein, Portfolio Manager at CalPERS; Eric Breval,  Managing Director of Fonds de Compensation AVS; Mark Taborsky, VP at Harvard Management Company; François-Serge Lhabitant, CIO of Kedge Capital; Vera Kupper Staub – CIO of Pensionskasse Stadt Zürich; Alexander Ineichen - Senior Investment Officer, UBS Global Asset Management; Gumersindo OIiveros - Director of Pension Plan and Endowments for The World Bank Pension Plan, and John Stevens - Managing Director, General Motors Asset Management.

Russell Read of the US President’s Working Group welcomed the AIMA ISC initiative commenting: “This initiative from AIMA’s Investor Steering Committee complements the work we are undertaking on behalf of investors and fiduciaries in the US. Nonetheless, it is clear that both initiatives will only be truly worthwhile if they are accepted by, and in turn become commonplace within, the investor community at-large.”

AIMA’s ISC project will complement AIMA’s Sound Practices for the Global Hedge Fund Industry – a substantial body of work developed by AIMA over the last 10 years and including  guidelines on Managers; Valuation; Administration; Governance; Business Continuity; Due Diligence for Managers, Prime Brokers and Administrators; Anti-Money Laundering; and Industry Certification (in conjunction with the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) Association.

The Guide is expected to be published in the second quarter of 2008.

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For further information, please contact Eoin Brophy or Evan DeBarra, Hume Brophy Communications on +44 (0)20 7499 8736.

Editors’ Notes

1. About AIMA

As the only truly representative global hedge fund association, AIMA, the Alternative Investment Management Association, has 1,280 corporate members worldwide, based in 47 countries.

Members include leading hedge fund managers, fund of hedge funds managers, prime brokers, legal and accounting services and fund administrators.  They all benefit from AIMA’s active influence in policy development, its leadership in industry initiatives, including education and sound practice manuals and its excellent reputation with regulators, worldwide.

AIMA is a dynamic organisation that reflects its membership’s interests and provides them with a vibrant global network

AIMA is committed to developing industry skills and education standards and is a co-founder of the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst designation (CAIA) – the industry’s first and only specialised educational standard for alternative investment specialists. For further information, please visit AIMA’s website www.aima.org

2. About CAIAA

The Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst Association® is an independent, not-for-profit global organization committed to education and professionalism in the field of alternative investments. Founded in 2002 by the Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA) and Center for International Securities and Derivatives Markets (CISDM), the CAIA Association is the sponsoring body for the CAIA designation.  Recognized globally, the CAIA designation certifies one’s mastery of the concepts, tools and practices essential for understanding alternative investments and promotes adherence to high standards of professional conduct.
 

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