CAIA wants to get on your screen. Literally.

The Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst Association launched its Fundamentals of Alternative Investing Certificate Program, which people can access online to learn about alternative investing, last month.

Its newly-minted CEO, Bill Kelly, is touring the country, as well as some parts of Europe and Asia, to introduce the organization, its existing charter program and the new certificate program to investors, asset management firms, regulators and other professionals.

With alternative managers wooing many retail investors of late and regulators investigating these strategies to make sure they're sound, Kelly thinks it's important for interested parties to educate themselves on the subject. The financial industry watchdogs, including FINRA and the SEC, have been issuing warning messages on alternatives. Kelly said he has met with executives at both agencies and that they're very interested in learning more about alternatives to better regulate the space.

The new Fundamentals program is being offered in conjunction with the Investment Management Consultant Association (IMCA), which has its own certification programs, like the CIMA (Certified Investment Management Analyst) and the CPWA (Certified Private Wealth Advisor).

The new certification is a self-paced course of 20 hour-long modules taught by CAIA experts and leaders in alternative investing. It covers the basics of portfolio construction, risk management and due diligence, along with sections on hedge funds, real assets, private equity, commodities and structured products. The online tests and quizzes are open book and the program is more of an introductory method to alts, in comparison with the full-fledged CAIA charter, which involves two levels of rigorous testing and a heavier course load. Only about 65 percent of the people that take it pass.

Kelly said that registered investment advisors, wirehouse brokers, sales reps at investment management firms and end clients are looking to learn more about alts. "They're looking for a barbell answer and the FAI can be a great answer. But it's a beginning , not an end," he added.

He has been meeting with CAIA chapter members and investment management representatives all over the U.S. and advising them to either take the charter or the certification. "I meet with these young people and they say they're busy, but I tell them: you don't know what busy is, wait until you have a family and children and a mortgage."

The CAIA Association, which employs about 35 people, is going to make it mandatory for its employees to take the program, unless they already have the charter (only six do). Kelly has also been holding chapter meetings in different cities. And he recently gathered all the CAIA chapter leaders worldwide for a phone call on alternative education. "I think that may have been the first time we had ever done that." CAIA has 17 chapters globally. The New York chapter is the largest.

CAIA started out in 2002 and has about 7,000 members. The CFA charter is the most commonly used, and is well respected, in the investment management industry. Established in 1947, CFA now has 100,000 members. Alternative investment professionals have tended to get the CFA designation first and the CAIA next, but Kelly now says that if someone focuses primarily on alternatives, it might make sense for them to go straight for the CAIA.

Kelly joined CAIA in January. He previously held CEO posts at Robeco Investment Management and Boston Partners Asset Management, which now run some strategies under the Robeco Boston Partners brand, with the former having acquired a 60 percent stake in the latter in 2002. 

Stay ahead of the news ... Sign up for our email alerts now
CLICK HERE