As regular readers are aware, I have been wearing two hats for the past few years: one as the managing editor of this august publication and the other as "chief cheerleader" for our parent, the CAIA Assocation, in the Americas.
As I wear that second hat, I am continually impressed by the energy and excitement displayed by CAIA designees in the Americas and around the world. Whereas I used to have to introduce CAIA to conference participants, people now approach me and my colleagues to express their interest in both the designation and the global network of over 4,600 members who earned it. It seems that few alternative investment professionals are now unfamiliar with CAIA.
That was true in Florida last week at GAIM USA, where several hundred alternative investment professionals met to take stock of their industry. It was also true at a CAIA reception hosted in downtown Miami after the conference. And it was true as well in Sao Paulo, Brazil just before the holidays when CAIA hosted 65 professionals in the tony Jardine District to hear presentations and a panel on the state of the hedge fund industry.
Like AllAboutAlpha.com, CAIA aims to be a catalyst for education and networking among all "A.I." professionals, not just its members. To that end, I'll be on the road over the next few months and hope to meet more of you then...
If you're in
New York in Mid-February, check out the latest installment of
Battle of the Quants. If you know of this event, then you must know that it will satisfy your intellectual curiousity on matters like how to mine Twitter data for trading ideas. I'm moderating a panel or two and look forward to seeing a few of you there.
Toronto readers might want to sign up for this
lunch event organised by AIMA, featuring several speakers including CAIA's own Keith Black, author, professor, consultant and noted A.I. expert. As the moderator, I hope to see a few of you there as well.
If you have even a
passing interest in the role of hedge funds in the Middle East (as you should), check out
Hedge Funds World Middle East in
Dubai in early March. CAIA's Steve Wallace will be speaking at that event along with Nouriel Roubini, Pershing Square's Bill Ackman and, again, your humble scribe, who will serve as one of the ring-leaders.
I'll also be in
Hong Kong in late March to co-chair
Fund Forum Asia and in
Singapore in April to participate in another in CAIA's popular series of "Hedge Fund Roundtables." More on those events next month.
Finally, we are inching closer to appointing AllAboutAlpha's next Managing Editor to free me up for other CAIA-related initiatives. Stay tuned for more on that next month.