Association Of Asian American Investment Managers

Supporting Career Education for Underserved College Students) AAAIM?s second year of Accelerate Externship provided an interactive, hybrid program for underrepresented students interested in the field of investment management to develop skills needed to apply for internships, networking, and better prepare them for the workforce. AAAIM?s Externship is an intensive 7-day hybrid program in the summer, offering externs an experiential learning opportunity. The externship accepts a small group of up to 30 undergraduate college students, selected through an application-based process. Externs will engage in professional development training focusing on resume building, interviewing techniques, and relationship building, while interacting with investment and finance professionals, heads of Human Resources and Talent, and industry veterans. At the end of the externship, AAAIM facilitated mentorship connections and shares potential industry opportunities for externs. This program is open to all undergraduate students to apply, with a special emphasis on supporting students coming from modest income families or non-target institutions. In 2024, we had 24 universities and colleges represented, 30 externs accepted with 45% identifying as female, and 65% received a financial stipend directly from AAAIM to attribute to expenses/costs associated with the program.

Research and Education) Since our initial study in 2020 with Bella Private Markets, AAAIM continues to expand its research efforts to bring awareness of the barriers faced by AAPI professionals in the investment management industry. Our 2024 research introduced two groundbreaking reports: The State of AAPIs in Venture Capital and Opportunities for AAPI Emerging Managers in Institutional Investment. Through these two reports, we build upon previous findings and examining further the representation at each stage of ones career across the investment management industry. The State of AAPIs in Venture Capital study, in partnership with UC Berkeley Sutardja Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology (SCET) and DECODE, explored the representation and experiences of Asian American professionals in the Venture Capital industry, bringing to light the disparities and underrepresentation in leadership, funding access, and career progression. Some revelations from our research include a low, single-digit percentage of representation ? only 3.3% of VC funds are AAPI owned and that the path to promotion and becoming an investing partner takes 41% longer (AAPI professionals worked in junior roles for an average of 3 years, 10 months. Non-AAPI professionals were promoted in 2 years, 9 months). Our final research from 2024, Opportunities for AAPI Emerging Managers in Institutional Investment, in partnership with Bella Private Markets, revealed a concerning issue on allocation and access from institutional investors to emerging manager programs, specifically those of AAPI identity. Our key findings from the report state that AAPI-owned firms are often not explicitly included in emerging manager programs with diversity criteria, at 30%, in addition to only 2.7% are actively AAPI-owned fund investments in portfolios of investors with emerging manager initiatives.

Emerging Leaders Initiative) AAAIM?s Emerging Leaders Initiative (ELI) program was created to help Asian American Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) break the ?Bamboo Ceiling? in the investment field. In 2024, we established ELI Day, a professional development and career-focused event bringing together mid-level professionals. With very few organizations focused on career development and formal leadership workshops for AAPIs throughout the full life cycle of their professional journey, AAAIM created this opportunity of support for upward mobility of AAPIs and other underrepresented communities. In addition to ELI Day, AAAIM continues into its fifth year of the Norman Mineta Cohort program. This program is designed for mid-level professionals on both the east and west coast, and provides them a development curriculum free of charge. Throughout this program, the cohort receives quarterly professional development workshops, ongoing executive coaching, mentorship from senior leaders and board of directors, education, and elevated visibility among our network through complimentary access to our events.