As institutional investors seek better returns or mitigation of downside risk in their portfolios, they frequently turn to hedge funds.  A recent program sponsored by the Regulatory Compliance Association provided an overview of the basic due diligence steps that such investors take with regard to investments with hedge fund managers, and focused on alignment of interests, indemnification provisions, liquidity, investor consent and the issues raised when investing through or alongside separate accounts.  The program was moderated by Scott Sherman, a Managing Director at Blackstone and Senior RCA Fellow from Practice.  The other speakers were Maura Harris, a Senior Vice President at The Permal Group; Nicole M. Tortarolo, an Executive Director at UBS A.G.; and David Warsoff, Executive Director at J.P. Morgan Alternative Asset Management.  For more on investor due diligence, see “Operational Due Diligence from the Hedge Fund Investor Perspective: Deal Breakers, Liquidity, Valuation, Consultants and On-Site Visits,” Hedge Fund Law Report, Vol. 7, No. 16 (Apr. 25, 2014).  For fund managers’ perspectives on investor due diligence, see “Evolving Operational Due Diligence Trends and Best Practices for Due Diligence on Emerging Hedge Fund Managers,” Hedge Fund Law Report, Vol. 7, No. 15 (Apr. 18, 2014).  For more on due diligence from the Regulatory Compliance Association, see “RCA Session Covers Transparency, Liquidity and Most Favored Nation Provisions in Hedge Fund Side Letters, and Due Diligence Best Practices,” Hedge Fund Law Report, Vol. 6, No. 1 (Jan. 3, 2013).  This month, the RCA will be hosting its Regulation, Operations and Compliance (ROC) Symposium in Bermuda.  For more on ROC Bermuda 2015, click here; to register for it, click here.  For a discussion of another RCA program, see “Four Pay to Play Traps for Hedge Fund Managers, and How to Avoid Them,” Hedge Fund Law Report, Vol. 8, No. 5 (Feb. 5, 2015).