Advocacy

In a year of significant regulatory change, AIMA strengthened its position as the leading global industry voice for alternative investments. 

In 2025, AIMA delivered 114 regulatory submissions across hedge funds, private credit, and digital assets, engaged directly with leading global regulatory authorities, and secured decisive legal outcomes in the US with real benefits for members globally. The US SEC withdrew its appeal of AIMA’s court victory vacating the Dealer Rule, while a separate ruling required the US SEC to strengthen its economic analysis of short selling and securities lending reforms, resulting in extended compliance timelines for both. Alongside these outcomes, AIMA provided hands-on practical support across a broad range of regulatory developments – from AIMFD II implementation to AML reforms – helping asset managers navigate complex change with confidence.

Across North America’s policy reset, reform agendas in the EU and UK and accelerating regulatory momentum in APAC, AIMA shaped policy decisions, secured critical extensions, and advanced more proportionate, consistent regulatory frameworks for alternative asset managers around the world.

Read on below to see how AIMA’s advocacy delivered real-world tangible outcomes for members across each region.

• Advocacy at the global level
• Advocacy in the Americas
• Advocacy in Asia Pacific
• Advocacy in the EU and UK
• Tax Engagement

Alternative Credit Council (Private Credit)

Given AIMA’s influence across global alternative investments, it also operates a dedicated affiliate for private credit. The Alternative Credit Council (ACC) serves as AIMA’s global platform for private credit, leading engagement with policymakers, regulators, and market participants worldwide. In 2025, the ACC played a central role in deepening the understanding of private credit and shaping regulatory discussions across all major markets.

As the private credit market continued to expand, the ACC led coordinated advocacy efforts across North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and the Middle East.  Through sustained regulatory engagement, the ACC brought evidence-based analysis and practical insight to policy debates on capital formation, market resilience, and systemic risk. This work helped ensure that regulatory approaches reflected the unique characteristics of private credit, while supporting the continued development of the asset class.

Flagship research, including Financing the Economy 2025, alongside new guidance, structuring insights, and expanded coverage in APAC, helped ensure the sector’s growth—now exceeding US$3.5 trillion in assets under management—was well understood and appropriately supported.

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Digital Assets and Artificial Intelligence

Growth in 2025 was driven not only by new markets but also by advances in technology.

During the year, digital assets and artificial intelligence moved from emerging themes to clear board-level priorities. AIMA responded with focused global policy engagement, practical research including the '7th Annual Crypto Hedge Fund Report' and 'Charting the Course: Lessons from AI leaders in alternative investments', and targeted regulatory input.

Through its Digital Assets Working Group, AIMA supported constructive dialogue on tokenisation, crypto market structure, and operational best practice. At the same time, AIMA’s guidance on artificial intelligence—covering compliance, cybersecurity, operations, and investment management—offered timely, practical support to firms adapting to rapid technological change.

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Investor Engagement

As AIMA’s global voice reached further, so too did its engagement with the investors allocating capital to alternative strategies.

Throughout 2025, the AIMA Global Investor Board continued to play a distinctive role in bringing allocators and asset managers together. Comprising 29 institutional and family office investors across 12 countries, the GIB engaged closely with AIMA, providing unique investor perspectives that informed its thought leadership, sound practices and due diligence questionnaires.

Complementing this year-round engagement, AIMA’s investor conferences continued to provide focal points for allocator–manager dialogue. The AIMA Global Investor Forum in Toronto, the Private Credit Investor Forum in Miami, and the AIMA Australia Annual Forum each convened leading institutional investors and fund managers to explore portfolio construction, risk, and emerging opportunities across alternative strategies, with LPs making up a significant share of attendees. Meet the Allocator sessions are also now a core feature across these and AIMA’s wider flagship events globally, giving AIMA's manager members access to allocators and reinforcing AIMA’s role as a trusted bridge between fund managers and investors of the alternative investment community.

These global conversations were mirrored by deeper regional engagement on the ground in emerging financial hubs.

Emerging Financial Hubs

As more alternative asset managers established a presence in the UAE’s financial free zones—the DIFC and ADGM—AIMA continued its long-standing, on-the-ground engagement in the region. As an early mover, AIMA has played a central role in helping firms navigate regulatory frameworks, build local networks, and capitalise on this increasingly important jurisdiction.

Our work in the Middle East reflects AIMA’s broader commitment: supporting members wherever the industry is growing.

And throughout the year, these conversations came to life in person with two key flagship events, our Middle East Forum last February and as we closed the year, hosting a half-day private credit platform at Abu Dhabi Finance Week.

Read more here.

Insights & Guidance

AIMA’s research and thought leadership ran at full tilt in 2025. New Due Diligence Questionnaires, updated industry implementation guides, as well as in-depth reports on AI, private credit, crypto hedge funds and tokenisation were downloaded thousands of times and cited across leading financial publications.

Engagement across AIMA’s digital channels also continued to grow. The Long-Short podcast expanded its global audience, LinkedIn engagement increased significantly, and the AIMA Journal remained a central platform for industry insight and commentary.

Read more here.

• 250+ events
• 19,000+ delegates
• 1,100+ speakers from over 30 countries

From flagship forums in New York, Toronto, London, Hong Kong, Singapore and the UAE to regional gatherings, private credit summits and digital asset conferences, AIMA delivered unrivalled access to policymakers, investors, and industry leaders.

If you attended, you likely left with fresh perspectives—and may even have featured in our highlights reel. If you didn’t, the message is simple: we’ll save you a seat next year!

Spot yourself, and read more, here.

The Long-Short is a podcast by the Alternative Investment Management Association, focusing on the very latest insights on the alternative investment industry.

Each episode will examine topical areas of interest from across the alternative investment universe with news, views and analysis delivered by AIMA’s global team, as well as a host of industry experts.

As 2025 draws to a close, The Long-Short team delivers its annual year in review episode. Host Tom Kehoe unpacks a transformative year marked by seismic geopolitical shifts, the rise of private credit as a defining industry narrative, and landmark legal wins for the industry. Joining him is AIMA CEO Jack Inglis, who reflects on hedge fund performance, a whirlwind year of global advocacy, and what lies ahead for hedge funds and private markets in 2026.

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Disclaimer
This podcast is the sole property of the Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA). This audio production and content are intended as indicative guidance only and are not to be taken or treated as a substitute for specific advice, whether legal advice or otherwise. AIMA permits use or sharing of the content in media or as an educational resource, provided always that proper attribution is made. The rights in the content and production, including copyright and database rights, belong to AIMA.