AIMA editorial: A momentous week in AIMA’s long history
By Jack Inglis, CEO, AIMA
Published: 30 September 2015
The last few days of September were momentous ones for AIMA. The Association celebrated its 25th anniversary on 23 September with a charity dinner at the Guildhall in London which I am delighted to say raised over £125,000 for the NSPCC, the children’s charity. Close to 300 guests attended the evening reception at the Guildhall in London, with speakers including Emmanuel “Manny” Roman, CEO of Man Group, and NSPCC CEO Peter Wanless.
Raising over £125,000 for the NSPCC was a fitting way to mark our 25th anniversary and underlined once again the strong charitable and philanthropic tradition in the hedge fund industry.
The following day, 24 September, the Guildhall hosted our 25th anniversary Annual Conference, also which drew 400 attendees to the Guildhall and featured an address by the Rt. Hon. Greg Hands, the UK Chief Secretary to the Treasury. The conference, sponsored by Simmons & Simmons, EY and State Street, also heard from David Wright, the Secretary General of IOSCO, as well as a number of senior representatives of fund management firms including AIMA Council members Simon Lorne, Vice Chairman and Chief Legal Officer of Millennium Management, and Stuart Fiertz, Co-Founder and President of Cheyne Capital Management.
To further mark the anniversary we published a special one-off magazine that looked back at the last 25 years for both AIMA and the global hedge fund industry. To read this publication, titled ‘25 Years in Hedge Funds’, click here.
We are hugely proud of everything which AIMA and the industry have achieved over the last 25 years, a period for hedge funds marked of course by globalisation, institutionalisation and increased regulation. In that period, from humble beginnings, AIMA has grown into a truly global organisation, with offices in every region of the world and close to 1,600 member firms in 55 countries.
It is of course our members who are the backbone of the association. They comprise both the largest and smallest firms around the world, all contributing to important output such as responses to regulatory consultations, updates to DDQs and new industry guides. We have more than 70 committees and working groups globally, comprising more than 600 individuals from over 350 firms. It is that support that allows us to continue to deliver all the services our members ask us for; and to undertake, with the help of the members who volunteer their time, all our work on behalf of the industry around the world.
From small European beginnings, an impressive international network encompassing Asia-Pacific, EMEA and the Americas has been constructed. The US has the dominant market share in the industry and represents over 50% of the aggregate AUM of our global membership; our Americas presence is further augmented by the existence of our National Groups in Canada and Cayman as well as our activities in Brazil. In Asia-Pacific, we have National Groups operating in Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan and Australia, combined under a single regionally-focused operation.
As we explain in ‘25 Years in Hedge Funds’, the international nature of investing, trading and regulation means it has never been more necessary for the hedge fund industry to have a global representative. The next 25 years will doubtless see even more change – but ever present will be AIMA, representing and speaking up for hedge fund firms, large and small, wherever they are based around the world.
