The Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) Association, the sponsoring body of the only globally recognised designation for alternative investment expertise, has appointed Andrew Baker – CEO of the Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA) – to its board of directors.

The CAIA Association also announced the election of board member Thomas Schneeweis as the new board chair. Schneeweis is the Michael and Cheryl Philipp Professor of Finance at the Isenberg School of Management at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, Massachusetts, and founding Director of the Center for International Securities and Derivatives Markets (CISDM) at the Isenberg School. He fills the position previously held by Florence Lombard, who was named CEO of the CAIA Association effective January 2011.

E Craig Asche, who stepped down as head of the CAIA Association at the end of 2010, will remain on the board. Other CAIA board members are: Peter Douglas, CAIA, principal and founder of Singapore-based GFIA pte ltd; Jane Buchan, CAIA, CEO and one of the four original founders of Pacific Alternative Asset Management Company (PAAMCO); and Alexander M Ineichen, CAIA, founder of Zurich-based Ineichen Research and Management.