CAIA acquires Canadian hedge fund site

One of internet’s most influential alternative investing sites, the Canadian-based AllAboutAlpha.com has been acquired by U.S.-based Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst Association.

The Toronto-based AllAboutAlpha.com, which was founded by hedge fund commentator, Christopher Holt in 2006, is a blog format education site that covers a number of sectors in the alternative investment space. Some of this commentary has appeared in Advisor’s Edge Report in the past.

While the site is based in Toronto, and will continue to be so, it’s importance in the alternative investments space has been recognized abroad, and the site’s followers are largely located in the United States and Europe. Of the 10,000 unique visitors who follow the site, Holt estimates 50% are from the U.S. and 25% from Europe, with the rest coming from Canada and Asia.

CAIA, which administers the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst designation is an independent, not-for-profit global organization committed to education and professionalism in the field of alternative investments. It will continue to use AllAboutAlpha.com as a portal for alternative investment news and education.

“The integration of AllAboutAlpha.com into the CAIA family is a reflection of our mandate to provide the industry with salient and topical alternative investment knowledge. As a daily publication, AllAboutAlpha.com offers a perfect complement to the CAIA program, which is focused on foundational and long-term alternative investment education,” says Craig Asche, executive director of the CAIA Association. “The nuanced and strategy-neutral stance that the website has taken is in direct alignment with our mission to provide the finance industry with insights into this growing field. We are committed to maintaining this independent voice as we move forward.”

The CAIA Association has been an AllAboutAlpha.com sponsor since November 2007. In acquiring AllAboutAlpha.com, Christopher Holt has been retained and will continue in his role as its managing editor and lead writer.

“As a CAIA designee myself, I have long appreciated the CAIA Association’s holistic view of portfolio construction and the role of alternative investments within it,” Holt says. “This provides a chance to tap into a global network and to help achieve the vision of the website that’s always been there. This development is very deliberate from my part and it’s the culmination of a relationship that began, almost a year and half ago, after CAIA’s endorsement and subsequent sponsorship of AllAboutAlpha.com.”

With CAIA now the owner of the site, Holt expects there will be a chance to expand the number of contributions from experts in the alternative investment space.

“We do have ad-hoc contributors right now. Some have written for the site semi-frequently,” Holt says. “Naturally this provides acquisition provides an opportunity to tap into more regular contributions from experts around the world. We’re going to be really careful with how we add new voices to the website. The hope is to bring in new voices, so I won’t be writing as much in the past.”

(04/14/09)