About the Event

GAIM Ops West is the premier gathering for operational, compliance, and risk leaders across the alternative investments industry, held from 25 to 27 October 2026 at the Waldorf Astoria Monarch Beach in Dana Point, California. Organised by Informa Connect, the event brings together senior COOs, CFOs, CCOs, CTOs, Heads of Operational Due Diligence, legal and compliance professionals, and institutional investors from hedge funds, private equity firms, private credit managers, venture capital funds, and multi-strategy platforms. The three-day programme opens on 25 October with a specialist summits day featuring the Ops and Compliance Summit and a newly introduced AI Summit focused on real-world AI implementation, followed by two main conference days on 26 and 27 October combining main stage plenary sessions, three parallel afternoon tracks, closed-door investor sessions, lunchtime roundtables, and dedicated networking events.

Audience and Attendees

The event draws a senior cross-section of the alternatives operational community, with a strong concentration of C-suite executives from investment management firms and a significant institutional investor contingent. Speakers confirmed for 2026 include the COO of Hawk Ridge Capital, the Chief Deputy Treasurer of the California State Treasurer's Office, the CCO and Deputy General Counsel of Oak Hill Advisors, the Co-Head of the Private Funds Unit at the US Securities and Exchange Commission, and senior compliance and operational leaders from Audax Group, TSG Consumer Partners, ZAIS Group, Empyrean Capital Partners, Hamilton Lane, Samlyn Capital, and 100 Women in Finance, among others. The event is endorsed by AIMA and supported by media and association partners including CalALTs and 100 Women in Finance.

Programme Structure

The summit day on 25 October runs two parallel specialist tracks: the Ops and Compliance Summit featuring curated roundtables on business protection, enforcement, technology-enhanced reporting, and fund domiciling; and the new AI Summit focused on practical AI implementation across operations and compliance rather than theory. Main Conference Day One on 26 October features main stage sessions on geopolitics and capital flows, DOJ enforcement insights, SEC examination priorities, leadership through industry change, and the evolving regulatory environment, followed by three parallel afternoon tracks covering regulation, risk and enforcement; private equity operations; and fund strategy topics including separately managed accounts, multi-account platforms, fundraising, algorithmic hedge funds, evergreen funds, and the new California tax rules. Main Conference Day Two on 27 October covers the retailisation of alternatives, prediction markets and tokenisation, AI governance, cybersecurity, and the future operating model of alternative investments on the main stage, with parallel afternoon tracks covering the investor closed-door stream, operations and technology and digital assets, and compliance and legal.

Main Topics

The agenda covers the full operational and compliance landscape for alternative investment managers. Key themes include the practical implementation of AI and agentic AI across fund operations and compliance functions; SEC examination priorities and enforcement trends for private funds; DOJ enforcement activity and third-party risk management; cybersecurity threats and operational resilience frameworks; digital assets, tokenisation, and evolving fund structures; the retailisation of alternatives and what it means for operations; AML and KYC workload management; the rise of the outsourced CCO model; valuation practices under regulatory scrutiny; building resilient and scalable operating models; evergreen fund structures and their operational implications; what institutional investors now expect in terms of governance, transparency, and operational maturity; AI governance and structuring defensible compliance frameworks; and working constructively with regulators beyond formal examination cycles.

Closing Session

The formal programme concludes on 27 October with the final afternoon parallel sessions wrapping at 4:05pm across the investor stream, operations and technology stream, and compliance and legal stream. The closing sessions address the future operating model of alternative investments, agentic AI and payments innovation, and how compliance teams can engage with regulators outside of formal examination processes, bringing three days of peer-to-peer insight and connection to a close on the California coastline.

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