The network of advisors and fundsters formerly known as Remora has named its first leadership team. On Thursday the freshly-rebranded Investment Managers and Advisors Alliance revealed that Ken Gutwillig, Paul Leibowitz and Stephen Perl will serve as its board of directors, with Gutwillig at the helm as chairman. Watch for the IMAA to fight the backlash from recent economic and market woes.

"The IMAA's immediate goal is to help restore confidence in the markets and investment professionals through national public service advertising campaigns," Gutwillig stated. "We will also borrow from the playbook of the recent presidential campaigns and employ new media strategies and viral marketing as well as traditional media outlets."

"We want to be the body of the industry," Gutwillig subsequently told MFWire in an interview, describing his goal for IMAA to ultimately "represent the whole of the investment advisor channel."

The trio represent three different chunks of the mutual fund world: Gutwillig serves as chief investment officer and chief compliance officer at Financial Decisions, an RIA in Manhattan; Leibowitz presides over Leibowitz Communications, a marketing strategy firm, and is a managing director with web design agency Sugarspun Industries; and Perl, a Fidelity alum, recently took a regional director post with Calamos Investments. Gutwillig called the addition of Leibowitz and Perl "a real coup" for the reborn trade group.

The IMAA will launch its own discussion group series, "Progressive Think Tank," and Gutwillig confirmed that IMAA's website will link in with social network site RIAMarketplace.org.

Former Remora members first unveiled the new IMAA brand and organization last month at Morningstar's conference in Chicago, after Remora-ites Eric Lansky of USA Mutuals and David Yazdan of Third Avenue rebooted their 10-year-old brainchild earlier this year. 

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