Message from the AIMSE PresidentJune 1, 2006
It is my pleasure to welcome you to your newly redesigned AIMSE website. In 2007 AIMSE will be celebrating it's 30th year as the preeminent, institutional investment, sales education organization. For 2006 we are off to a great start and we are building on the tremendous momentum that we have generated to this point. That momentum began with an oversubscribed AIMSE/Wharton Investment Institute held at the Wharton School in January and our inaugural AIMSE/Pensions & Investments Hedge Fund Marketing Conference held in New York this past March. On September 21st and 22nd, we will host the 15th Annual Fall Consultant—Plan Sponsor Dialogue at the Grand Hyatt in New York. One of our most successful new endeavors has been the regional breakfast meetings that we have held in various locations across the country. These informal meetings provide members the ability to share with each other insight, opportunities and potential market problems with their local peers. Stay tuned for a meeting in your area.Thirty years ago, banks and insurance companies dominated the institutional investment world. It was the entrepreneurial aptitude of sales and investment professionals in the late 70's and early 80's that changed the competitive landscape, creating privately owned firms, dedicated to the institutional marketplace. That same aptitude led to the emergence of the intellectual growth that we are experiencing today with alternative assets. Never before has there been such a need for AIMSE's targeted education. Sales professionals are the front door and the face of their respective firms. Today's complex investment environment means being much more than a bright smile and a propensity to travel. It means being an intellectual asset to your firm and to your clients. A great quote attributed to Harry Truman sums up what we all need to humbly remember, "It's what you learn after you know it all that counts." Our most recent educational event was AIMSE's 29th Annual Conference held a few weeks ago in Orlando. We are the only conference or professional association that provides its members with direct conversation with consultant and fund sponsors. Corporate, Taft-Hartley, healthcare, public, endowment and foundation investment officers from funds including: Georgia Tech Foundation, British Petroleum America (BP), Alfred I. duPont Trust and Adventist Health Systems were on hand to share their interests and insights with AIMSE members. There were 11 fund sponsors with assets of $30 billion participating in our roundtables. Consultants from Wurts, EAI, Rocaton, Wyatt, CRA, Callan, FEG, PCA, Yanni, Towers Perrin, Richards & Tierney and the Gregory Group also shared information on working with their respective firms and their clients. If you can't benefit from this level of access, you may be in the wrong line of work. Some of my favorite sessions are those led by our industry peers. It is here where you find the heart of AIMSE. It is here where you learn from and share ideas with your peers. What better way to learn about your competitors than from your competitors? The AIMSE experience is sharing and fostering relationships with consultants, plan sponsors, vendors and our peers. It is unique and it is about learning and bettering yourself as an investment sales professional. It is far too easy to fall prey to "group think" within the walls of our own firms. As the New York attorney and politician Dudley Field Malone once said, "I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me." The AIMSE Board of Directors, nominated and elected by the membership, is comprised of investment sales professionals from boutique, multi-product and alternative asset firms. This is an exceptionally qualified group of individuals who are unselfishly sharing their time and energy to enhance the AIMSE experience on behalf of the members and to give something back to an industry that we are all privileged to work in. This is your organization and I encourage all of you to become involved. On this site, you will find a list of standing committees. Please take a moment and find one that you have a common interest in. Then contact the committee chair or the AIMSE office and join the committee. We welcome your involvement and look forward to seeing you at our next AIMSE event. Sincerely,  J. Kurt Wood, President, AIMSE DePrince, Race & Zollo Inc. |
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