With Alternative Investments Reshaping Portfolio Construction, CAIA Association and the Financial Planning Association Announce New Partnership to Provide Greater Access to Innovative UniFi by CAIA Platform

UniFi by CAIA™ was built to meet the needs of client- and adviser-facing professionals in asset and wealth management; now available to all FPA members at a significant discount.

Private Debt and Digital Assets microcredentials are now available, with many more offerings and enhancements in the pipeline for 2H 2023 and beyond.

AMHERST, Mass. and DENVER, July 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) Association, the global professional body for the alternative investment industry, and the Financial Planning Association® (FPA®), the leading membership organization and trade association for CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professionals, are today announcing a new partnership designed to provide financial planning professionals with greater access to essential educational materials as they work to stay ahead of the fast-moving and rapidly-expanding alternative investment universe.

Starting today, all FPA members will be eligible to receive discounted access to UniFi by CAIA™, an online series of educational offerings geared towards the needs of client- and adviser-facing financial professionals. FPA members can now access and sign-up for the program through an exclusive, member-only listing on the FPA Marketplace.

In 2023 alone, UniFi by CAIA™ has added microcredentials focused on private debt and digital assets, respectively, with more in the works in the months to come, along with a series of forthcoming enhancements to its Fundamentals of Alternative Investments (FAI) certificate program.

"We're thrilled to be partnering with an organization the size and stature of FPA and look forward to helping their members stay ahead of the latest trends and developments across the full spectrum of alternative investments," said Aaron Filbeck, CAIA, CFA, CFP^®, CIPM, FDP, Managing Director, and Head of UniFi by CAIA™. "At CAIA Association, we are constantly striving to solve the greatest educational challenges facing practitioners in the asset and wealth worlds, while always advocating for a client-first mindset. With FPA, we have found an outstanding partner who shares that mission and those values."

This partnership comes on the heels of the release of the latest iteration of FPA's annual Trends in Investing Survey report, which revealed a growing interest among financial professionals in putting alternative approaches to work in client portfolios.

This year's survey revealed that 28% of investment professionals actively invest in or search for alternative investments suitable for their clients. In comparison, 30% are familiar with alternative investments but do not intend to invest in them or recommend them to their clients.

Half of investment professionals are investing in or recommending that clients invest in funds that provide access to alternative investment classes or strategies (50%), while one in five are making direct investments in a product, project, or company.

"Our research shows that the use or recommendation of alternative investments has doubled in some cases since the start of the pandemic. Those numbers could be even higher if more professionals had access to quality education, which is why we are working with UniFi by CAIA™," said Patrick D. Mahoney, FPA chief executive officer. "CAIA is a premier name in alternative investment education. Access to this platform will help FPA members educate themselves, enabling them to assist their clients in understanding this increasingly trending asset class."

FPA members interested in registering for UniFi by CAIA™ can find more information here: https://fpa.chalicenetwork.com/marketplace/unifibycaia 

More information on UniFi by CAIA™, including current offerings, can be found here: https://caia.org/programs/unifi 

About the CAIA Association 
The CAIA Association is a global professional body dedicated to creating greater alignment, transparency, and knowledge for all investors, with a specific emphasis on alternative investments. A Member-driven organization representing nearly 13,000 professionals in 100 countries, CAIA Association advocates for the highest ethical standards. The organization provides unbiased insight on a broad range of investment strategies and industry issues, key among them being efforts to bring greater diversification to portfolio construction decisions to achieve better long-term investor outcomes. To learn more about the CAIA Association and how to become part of the organization's mission, please visit https://caia.org/.

About the Financial Planning Association
The Financial Planning Association^® (FPA^®) is the leading membership organization and trade association for Certified Financial Planner™ professionals and those engaged in the financial planning process. FPA is the CFP^® professional's partner in planning by helping them realize their vision of professional fulfillment through practice support, learning, advocacy, and networking. Learn more about FPA at financialplanningassociation.org and on Twitter at twitter.com/fpassociation.

SOURCE Financial Planning Association