(Pictured: Craig Stanford) 

AIMA Australia, the alternative investment managers’ group, is to expand its education committee under new committee chair, Craig Stanford, the head of alternative investments at Ibbotson Associates.

Stanford, who is also an AIMA executive committee member, said last week that the education committee would be looking initially to apply CPD points for advisors and others as part of its education and events program.

He said the education committee had three main aims: to help manager members understand what they needed to do to grow their businesses, such as ways to improve transparency and their investment structures; to help investors to understand alternatives and how they can be applied to enhance portfolio returns and/or reduce risk; and, to improve the public perception of alternatives by providing actual examples of investor experiences.

With respect to public perceptions, he said: “We have to get them to understand these are not the sort of guys who put everything on black and see what happens.”

The current education committee of four would be expanded, he said, to help meet the committee’s aims.

As well as advising Ibbotson Associates clients on their alternatives programs, Stanford oversees the $400 million of alternatives which the firm has in its $4 billion implemented consulting funds. Ibbotson is part of the Morningstar group.

AIMA’s major education event, which is open to all industry participants, is its annual conference, to be held next in Sydney on September 15.

Michael Gallagher, AIMA Australia general manager, said education had always been a core AIMA offering and he was looking forward to working with Stanford to improve clarity and understanding of hedge funds in the market.