Coral Gables, FL., March 19, 2012. The Miami-based Florida Alternative Investment Association (FLAIA) will host its ‘One-On-One’ Capital Attraction Forum at the Meeting of the Americas, jointly hosted by Markets Media, the FLAIA, and the Connecticut Hedge Fund Association. The three-day conference will take place on March 18 to 20 at the Miami Biltmore Hotel.

The forum is an initiative to connect best-of-breed hedge funds, primarily Florida-based, with institutional investors and hedge fund allocators. The special matchmaking event is an encore to the FLAIA’s inaugural Capital Attraction Forum, which took place last April at the Four Seasons Miami.

At Meeting of the Americas, the FLAIA, whose mission is to represent and build Florida’s hedge fund and investment community, is expected to showcase approximately 50 hedge funds. A wide range of institutions will also be present; represented by roughly 500 family offices, endowments, foundations and pensions.

One hedge fund in presence had met “serious allocators, including a large university endowment.”

“The investors have to have at least 100 million in liquid investable assets and either allocate to alternatives or be seriously considering allocating to alternatives this year,” said FLAIA Chairman Michael Corcelli of the One-On-One Forum.

“The genesis of the idea for the event came from a top educational endowment looking at geography as a factor for their manager search and selection process in the hedge fund space,” he continued.

In its inaugural run, buy-side capital allocators representing more than $82 billion attended the event, and more than 120 ‘One on Ones’ took place. A core mission of the initiative is to continue to uncover top priorities for institutions with regard to alternative investments.

Institutional infrastructure, sound track records, and exposure to mainstream allocators were among the top concerns for institutions, according to last year’s forum.

“The forum was more helpful than I had expected,” said Bill McCauley, chief executive of III Associates, a $1.6 billion plus relative value hedge fund located in Boca Raton, Florida. “I was skeptical when I first signed up because FLAIA is a young organization, but I found it to be worthwhile.”

In addition to the ‘One on One’ forum, the Meeting of the Americas will kick off with a golf outing, followed by a keynote address from Ambassador V. Manuel Rocha, senior advisor on international business at global law firm, Foley & Lardner. Rocha primarily focuses on developing business in Latin America.

Rocha’s address will be followed by a plethora of esteemed panelists to feature a wide-ranging discussion of today’s most topical investment themes affecting U.S., Canada and Latin America.

Media Contact:
Michael Corcelli
FLAIA
Michael@flaia.org
Phone: (786) 759-1352

Source: Florida Alternative Investment Association (FLAIA), Allocator

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