(January 23, 2003) Faced with disappointing returns over the past three years and the prospect of sideways equity markets, investment advisors are increasingly reaching out for alternative investment approaches. But they are approaching them gingerly, until they know what the risk-reward trade-off is. Strategy Institute, a Canadian specialist in hedge fund conferences, is using its expertise to create an intensive certification program for advisors who want to specialize in hedge funds.
“We know there’s definitely a need in the market for hedge fund education,” says Dan Jerred, who organizes many of the Strategy Institute’s conferences, adding that “the Strategy Institute has been running hedge fund conferences for three years now. We’re the logical choice to run a high-end, comprehensive, rigorous hedge fund educational course.”
The Strategy Institute plans to hold four one-day courses followed by a full-day exam, with two sessions a year. The Canadian Hedge Fund Specialist (CHFS) Accreditation courses would be held on Fridays, and cost $995. Successful students would receive a Certified Hedge Fund Specialist Designation.
The Strategy Institute has created an independent sub-committee to act as the curriculum advisory board. This board is headed by Sergio Simone, president of the Canadian chapter of the Hedge Fund Association. Speaking at a conference on hedge fund marketing sponsored by the Strategy Institute earlier this week, Simone noted that advisors are “scared to death of selling traditional funds, let alone something they don’t fully understand that requires all this extra effort.” With the long bear confronting clients with their real risk tolerance, as opposed to the one they thought they had during rising markets, “there’s still so much fear out there of getting sued.”
Simone has long called for better education of advisors selling hedge funds, which was one reason he set up a Canadian chapter of the Hedge Fund Association.
Robert Thompson-So, president of Independent Hedge, a specialized education service provider for advisors, points out, “Maybe about five in every 20 advisors understands what a hedge fund is, and maybe one uses them.”
The Strategy Institute is expecting 40-50 students for the first session of the accreditation course, which will begin April 25. The courses will be led by hedge fund managers, says Jerred. “We do know from the first couple of advisory board meetings that we’ve had, the course really needs to be taught by the managers themselves, not the academics, not the theoreticians, but the guys in the trenches.”
The curriculum advisory board includes a number of prominent Canadian hedge fund managers, as well as other hedge fund specialists.
The curriculum tentatively covers a wide range of topics, from the history of hedge funds, including some famous blow-ups, the role of key players in the industry such as prime brokers and administrators, and various measures of risk that can be applied to hedge funds. Other classes will examine different hedge fund strategies, as well as legal constraints and regulatory requirements, and how to perform due diligence, as well as how to match a fund to a client’s risk profile.
“We’re really taking the high route for this course,” Jerred says. He expects that industry organizations will recognize the course for continuing education credits.
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For more continuing education credit resources, visit Advisor.ca’s CE Centre.
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Filed by Scot Blythe, Advisor.ca, sblythe@advisor.ca.
(01/23/03)