Members of the Financial Planning Association will be able to get access to an alternative investments education program under a recent partnership with the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst Association, or CAIA.

The partnership allows FPA members to get educational material at a 20% discount through CAIA and its UniFi program.

“We look forward to helping FPA members stay ahead of the latest trends and developments across the full spectrum of alternative investments,” said Aaron Filbeck, managing director and head of UniFi by CAIA, in a statement. “At the CAIA Association, we are constantly striving to solve the greatest educational challenges facing practitioners in the asset and wealth worlds, while always advocating for a client-first mindset.”

UniFi is an online series of educational offerings geared to the needs of client- and advisor-facing financial professionals. FPA members can now sign up for the program through the FPA Marketplace.

UniFi recently added credentials focused on private debt and digital assets. UniFi also plans to add enhancements to its Fundamentals of Alternative Investments certificate program in the coming months.

The partnership coincides with the recent release of the FPA’s annual “Trends in Investing Survey,” which reveals a growing interest among financial professionals in putting alternative approaches to work in client portfolios, the association said. The survey showed that 28% of investment professionals actively invest in or search for alternative investments suitable for their clients.

Half of investment professionals are investing in or recommending that clients invest in funds that provide access to alternative investment classes or strategies, while 20% of them are making direct investments in a product, project or company, the survey said.

“Our research shows that the use or recommendation of alternative investments has doubled in some cases since the start of the pandemic,” said Patrick D. Mahoney, the FPA’s chief executive officer, in a statement. “Those numbers could be even higher if more professionals had access to quality education, which is why we are working with UniFi by CAIA.

“Access to this platform will help FPA members educate themselves, enabling them to assist their clients in understanding this increasingly trending asset class,” he added.

FPA members interested in registering for UniFi by CAIA can find more information here.