The Canadian chapter for the Alternative Investment Management Association is launching two new projects aimed at both advisors and their clients to increase awareness in the area of alternative investing.

The AIMA Canada Hedge Fund Primer is designed to “demystify” hedge fund investing for the financial community, financial advisors and individual investors, AIMA Canada said. The primer is based on a similar document published by the AIMA’s Australian chapter.

Tristram Lett, director of alternative investments with RBC Capital Markets and co-chairman of AIMA’s education and research committee, said work on the Canadian edition took about three months, primarily due to the efforts of Bernice Miedzinski. “She took the work that had been done and rejuvenated it,” said Lett.

The 48-page primer reviews the history of the hedge fund industry, discusses different hedge fund characteristics and strategies, reviews the risks and return drivers and discusses the different types of hedge funds, how to include them in a portfolio and concludes with factors to consider before investing. It is available for download at www.aima-canada.org.

AIMA Canada also announced the inaugural AIMA Canada Research Award, designed to promote Canadian research in alternative investments.

Academics, students and practitioners will be encouraged to submit research papers for the award. Topics can be on any aspect of absolute return strategies including hedge funds, managed futures funds and currency funds. Topics may also cover investment, regulation, trading, risk management and risk measurement.

“We’re very excited about this,” says Lett. “It’s a chance to help students find a topic and also to promote research. This area is exploding and the techniques are still evolving.”

The award recipient will receive a cash prize of $10,000 and the research will be published in the Canadian Investment Review. Students who submit the best papers will also receive internships with AIMA Canada members and the opportunity to publish their research on the AIMA Canada website.

The 2005 award is co-sponsored by JCClark and RBC Capital Markets. Lett says AIMA Canada will fund the bulk of the award, while JCClark and RBC will pick up the administration and other expenses associated with the program.

“Anytime there is an opportunity to build a body of scholarly work, it adds to the brain trust of the industry,” says Paul Bates, dean of the DeGroot School of Business at McMaster University and commissioner of the Ontario Securities Commission. Bates will manage the award’s adjudication panel of AIMA education and research committee members and academic faculty from a number of business schools across Canada.

“We’re pulling together an adjudication committee of bright minds from the academic world, people from across the country to participate,” Bates said. The size of the committee is yet to be determined, but Bates expects the effort to begin “in earnest”, sometime in October. Anyone with academic contacts who may be interested can send their suggestions to Lynda Briant at briante@aima-canada.org.

Information and application forms are also available for download at www.aima-canada.org.