Our Mission
AIF is an independent economic think tank focusing on institutional investment policy. Its mission is to foster the exchange of best ideas, practices and information among institutional asset owners globally to help them achieve their investment objectives.
Our Approach
AIF’s target audience is the universe of chief and senior investment officers and board members of the world’s largest institutional asset owners, i.e., pension and superannuation plans and other retirement savings programs, sovereign wealth funds, insurance companies, endowments, foundations and family offices.
AIF looks first at institutional asset owners’ asset allocation decisions for their overall portfolios (both public market/”traditional” and private market/”alternative” investments). It then considers with those asset owners how they can best use private market/ alternative investments in their portfolios to achieve their investment objectives. AIF does this by collaborating with asset owners and preeminent finance academics, investment consultants and asset managers to create timely, probing and actionable content based upon their real-time needs.
Governance
AIF’s Advisory Board shapes its content and determines its membership. The Board has been chaired by Harvard Business School Professor of Investment Banking Josh Lerner since its creation in 2009. It consists of five sub-Boards:
- Investor—co-chaired by Missouri State Employees’ Retirement System CIO TJ Carlson, CERN Pension Fund CIO Elena Manola-Bonthond, and Maryland State Retirement and Pension System CIO Andrew Palmer
- Academic—chaired by Harvard Business School Jacob H. Schiff Professor of Investment Banking Josh Lerner
- Consultant—co-chaired by Segal Marco Advisors Senior Vice President and CIO Sue Crotty and Callan Executive Vice President and Head of Alternatives Consulting Pete Keliuotis
- Trustee—co-chaired by Ohio Police and Fire Pension Fund Trustee J. David Heller and Houston Municipal Employees Pension System Board Member and Secretary Rhonda Smith
- Insurance—co-chaired by Cigna Investment Management Senior Managing Director and Head of Alternative Investments Edward Lewis and Unum Group Executive Vice President and CIO Martha Leiper
Educational Initiatives
Controlled Environment
Prohibition against Marketing and Lobbying Activities
