In the early days of my career, I was a curious generalist always looking to broaden my horizons. At the same time, I was looking for the rigor and specialization that other designations did not necessarily provide in my areas of interest. Well, now those interests have turned into a full-fledged career focused on alternative investments.
I must admit that, in general, networking does not come naturally to me. However, when I joined the CAIA Association in 2012, I found a group of peers gathered around the same issues and concerns I encountered in my day-to-day. I felt empowered by the shared knowledge and friendships made along the way. It is very gratifying to see those bridges connecting throughout the years, so I would encourage anyone to start early and be consistent and deliberate in their efforts. And don’t get caught up in the imposter syndrome cycle!
There is never a dull day at the office. I get to work creating unique investment strategies that broaden the access to alternative investments that our clients seek. Our mandates are highly customized by design and their implementation involves multiple layers of structuring and active management that would be hard for us to achieve with traditional investments. To facilitate that, we pride ourselves on having built a close-knit network that is closely aligned with our objectives.
On top of that, through our holistic approach to wealth planning, we take our proprietary alternative investment platform, and we create an additional layer of tax-optimization to help our clients achieve their intended outcomes. All the while participating in an ecosystem comprised of the most talented allocators and asset managers in the world. I think we contribute our little grain of sand from our small niche to an industry that is rapidly evolving. It is a challenging yet very rewarding task!
Start building your knowledge base and technical skills as soon as possible. For the sake of it, grab a study pal, sign up for the CAIA exam and maybe join your local Chapter. Again, don't neglect your network, go out as much as possible, be curious, don’t be afraid to ask all the questions and, above all, carve your own unique path. In a world in which established strategies are being progressively commoditized, it is important to keep pushing the frontiers of our financial ingenuity further out than usual. And that is very exciting news for independent thinkers with their own creative approaches.
The CAIA community is an invaluable network of outstanding peers and an active platform to shape the future of the alternative investments industry.
About Francisco Soler, CAIA, CFA
Francisco is the Chief Investment Officer at MAS Advisors LLC. He is responsible for overseeing the investment management and research functions of MAS Advisors, a specialty Registered Investment Advisor focused on tax-efficient wealth management strategies. He has been a CAIA Member since 2012.