HAI arose from a simple problem: even as alternative assets and the firms that work with them hold increasing sway in our financial markets, campus internships, and postgraduate hiring, knowledge of those assets, employers, and recruitment processes lags on Harvard’s campus.

Students aware of the alternative investment space and eager to learn more often spend hundreds of dollars on educational and recruitment materials, while those who can’t afford them – or who are unaware of alternative investment altogether – find themselves at an informational disadvantage.

We saw that Harvard students of all backgrounds – from freshmen to seniors, humanities majors to STEM thinkers, those well-schooled in public assets to those interested in but entirely ignorant of finance – would benefit from a comprehensive introduction to alternative investments, delivered in a welcoming, learning-oriented and judgment-free environment.

So we formed HAI, with the sole purpose of guiding members of any degree of prior knowledge and experience to the level of big-picture understanding and wide-ranging skillsets necessary to evaluate and succeed across the myriad subdomains of alternative investment, finance, and business.