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New York (HedgeCo.net) – Hedge fund manager, Trinity Fund Administration has opened an office in the Cayman Islands after receiving a full Fund Administrators license from the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority.
Brad Cowdroy has been appointed Head of the new Cayman office and will have overall responsibility for local service offerings and the principal management of all North American account business. Brad joins from Goldman Sachs, where he was a Vice President in Fund Administration Services. Prior to this, Brad held positions at CIBC and PricewaterhouseCoopers in the Cayman Islands, where both roles focused in the funds area.
John McCann, Managing Director of Trinity commented, “We are absolutely delighted to have someone of Brad’s calibre and experience heading up our new Cayman office and joining the Trinity group. Brad brings a wealth of experience in alternative fund servicing, as well as a broad knowledge of administrative and regulatory issues affecting our clients. We have no doubt he will make a significant contribution to the organisation’s growth moving forward”.
Trinity provides the full range of hedge fund administration services to investment groups based around the globe, which operate fund structures domiciled in a range of jurisdictions, including Ireland, Cyprus, Cayman Islands, Bahamas, Bermuda, BVI, Malta and the Channel Islands. A significant portion of its business comes from Cayman registered funds.
The firm’s expansion into Cayman comes in response to strong client demand, particularly from emerging managers, and will provide a local point for firms to access Trinity’s broad suite of services. Equally this befits a natural expansion of the business which will give Trinity better access to managers in North America.
John McCann added, “This is a major step forward in terms of Trinity’s expansion plans. We have always offered a complete suite of services to Cayman-domiciled funds and this brings us that much closer to this important component of our business”.
Trinity was also recently nominated for two awards from International Custody and Fund Administration and was voted number one in its class, within the recent prestigious annual Global Custodial Survey.
Editing by Alex Akesson
For HedgeCo.net alex@hedgeco.net HedgeCo.Net is a premier hedge fund database and community for qualified and accredited investors only. Membership on www.hedgeco.net is FREE and EASY. We also offer FREE LISTINGS for Hedge Funds!
New York (HedgeCo.net) – Alternative fund administration company, Butterfield Fulcrum, announced a partnership with hedge fund software firm Risk Fundamentals, to provide comprehensive risk analytics to hedge fund managers.
“As independent administrators we sit at the junction where transparency and confidentiality have traditionally opposed each other,” said Akshaya Bhargava, Butterfield Fulcrum’s CEO.
“Risk Fundamentals is a state of the art risk management and transparency solution for hedge funds, funds of funds and institutional investors,” said Ben Weston, Risk Fundamentals’ Chairman. “This collaboration fulfills a longstanding need in the marketplace for new and effective ways to understand and manage risk.”
Butterfield Fulcrum said the product will measure liquidity and leverage, the primary sources of hedge fund collapse.
Alex Akesson
Editor for HedgeCo.net alex@hedgeco.net HedgeCo.Net is a premier hedge fund database and community for qualified and accredited investors only. Membership on www.hedgeco.net is FREE and EASY. We also offer FREE LISTINGS for Hedge Funds!
New York (Press Release) – Citadel Solutions announced today that it has changed its name to Omnium, effective immediately. This name change reflects the continuing evolution of the state-of-the-art hedge fund administrator, which has grown significantly since it began in 2007.
“We chose the name Omnium because it signifies excellence and agility across all disciplines,” said John Buckley, President of Omnium. “We have an unrelenting spirit of problem solving that drives our ability to deliver innovative solutions. Our business has rapidly expanded as we have reacted swiftly to market trends, and provided our clients with an industry-leading platform supported by superior people, processes and technology.”
Last month, Omnium announced that it had been selected by Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (LBHI) to provide administration services, including the creation of an asset servicing platform. After a lengthy search, LBHI selected Omnium because it has the capabilities to service LBHI’s complex and diverse asset portfolios. The retention on an interim basis was approved on August 26th by the bankruptcy court and is subject to the negotiation and execution of definitive documentation.
About Omnium
Launched in 2007, Omnium provides world-class, technology-driven fund administration and reporting services to hedge funds and financial institutions that operate across a broad spectrum of investment strategies. With more than $25 billion in assets under administration, Omnium leverages Citadel’s best-in-class infrastructure and leading-edge technology to provide Operational Alpha(R) to its clients.
West Palm Beach (HedgeCo.net) – Deutsche Bank’s Alternative Fund Services, part of the bank’s Global Transaction Banking (GTB) division, has ranked second among top administrators in Global Custodian magazine’s 2009 Hedge Fund Administration Survey.
This is the first time Deutsche Bank has participated in the survey, which is published annually and includes responses from 1,370 clients of hedge fund administrators around the globe. It is intended to measure service quality and value in 12 categories including client service, fund accounting and middle office services, across a full range of fund characteristics such as size, strategy and location.
“In our first appearance in the Hedge Fund Administration Survey we are very pleased to have ranked second and scored highly in a range of categories,” said Christopher Nero, Managing Director and co-head of Alternative Fund Services within Global Transaction Banking.
In a write-up accompanying the results, Global Custodian commented, “(GTB) has a long pedigree in hedge fund administration too, with operations scattered across Cayman, Delaware, the Channel Islands, Dublin, Luxembourg, Mauritius and Singapore. But in January last year Deutsche transformed its presence in the industry by the acquisition of California based hedge fund administrator Hedgeworks. With staff in Boston and Cayman as well as the Golden State, Hedgeworks helped Deutsche double the size of its business. As it did for the prime brokerage business, the credit standing of the bank has attracted clients.”
Last month, Deutsche Bank announced that its Global Prime Finance business within its Global Markets division received 127 “Best in Class” and 16 “Top Rated and Commended” awards, the most among all global prime brokerage providers, in the Global Custodian 2009 Prime Brokerage Survey.
Alex Akesson
Editor for HedgeCo.net
alex@hedgeco.net
HedgeCo.Net is a premier hedge fund database and community for qualified and accredited investors only. Membership on www.hedgeco.net is FREE and EASY. We also offer FREE LISTINGS for Hedge Funds!
West Palm Beach (HedgeCo.net) – International financial services provider TMF Group has expanded into boutiqe and hedge funds in Australia through the acquisition of Sydney administrator, Kingsway Taitz Fund Administration Pty Ltd,.
Recognised as a leading provider of boutique and hedge fund administration services in the Asia‐Pacific region, Kingsway Taitz has been top ranked in its peer group for the past two years by the annual Global Custodian Hedge Fund Administrator Survey.
"The increasing demand for our services made it apparent that the next phase of growth required the backing of a global fund administrator with strong financial resources." Brian Taitz, managing director of Kingsway Taitz said “This transaction provides the opportunity to align with a like‐minded global fund administration company that shares our values and culture."
“This transaction brings together two highly successful companies – one global and one local with complementary skills and values, and a shared focus on client service and staff development," managing directors of TMF Eric Koolen and Catherine Caradus, said. TMF has over 175 fund administration clients.
Eric Koolen, who has 20 years of fund administration experience, will lead the combined organisation in Australia. Brian Taitz will continue to be involved on a day to day basis for up to six months to ensure a seamless integration of the two organisations. The company says there will be no immediate changes.
Kingsway Taitz has retained Capital Advice as its financial adviser in relation to this transaction.
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West palm Beach (HedgeCo.Net) – Leading risk analytics provider Measurisk, LLC, an affiliate of J.P. Morgan Worldwide Securities Services (WSS), today announced that it has crossed an important industry milestone in modeling the full positions of over 1,000 hedge funds – making it the largest position-based hedge fund analytical platform in the industry.
Measurisk acts as an independent intermediary facilitating the flow of risk information between hedge funds and investors. Measurisk receives the full positions from the hedge funds, but only provides summary risk and exposure statistics to investors. In this way, investors receive the risk transparency they need, while hedge fund managers maintain the confidentiality of their individual positions.
Measurisk also announced that the platform now includes managers that collectively make up more than 50% of the total $1.3 trillion* hedge fund industry assets.
“We are excited that the industry has chosen Measurisk as the preferred outlet to bridge the needs of both the investor and the manager" said Andrew Lapkin, President of Measurisk. "In today’s markets, transparency and risk management are paramount. Position-based risk information provides investors with a higher level of information necessary to make the best investment decisions – especially when having to navigate these difficult market environments.”
Measurisk’s independent, third party risk solutions are designed to address the needs of pension plans, endowments and foundations, family offices, insurance companies, hedge funds and funds of hedge funds. Measurisk compliments the full breadth of J.P. Morgan WSS services including: fund administration; custody; performance analytics and securities lending.
JPMorgan Chase & Co., is a leading global financial services firm with assets of $2.1 trillion and operations in more than 60 countries. The firm is a leader in investment banking, financial services for consumers, small business and commercial banking, financial transaction processing, asset management, and private equity. A component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, JPMorgan Chase & Co. serves millions of consumers in the United States and many of the world’s most prominent corporate, institutional and government clients under its J.P. Morgan, Chase, and Washington Mutual brands.
J.P. Morgan Worldwide Securities Services (WSS) is a premier securities servicing provider that helps institutional investors, alternative asset managers, broker dealers and equity issuersoptimize efficiency, mitigate risk and enhance revenue. A division of JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. (NYSE: JPM), WSS leverages the firm’s unparalleled scale, leading technology and deep industry expertise to service investments around the world. It has $13.5 trillion in assets under custody and $3.7 trillion in assets under administration.
Boston Globe – State Street Corp., which specializes in serving institutional investors and wealthy customers, said Thursday it has been selected to provide hedge fund administration services for about $6 billion in assets advised by Caxton Associates.
State Street’s hedge fund administration company International Fund Services will provide accounting, fund administration, tax and risk services to five master-feeder fund structures managed by New York-based Caxton Associates and affiliates.
"Our decision to select IFS as our independent fund administrator was based on their long and significant experience servicing highly sophisticated and complex hedge funds in the industry," said John G. Forbes, chief operating officer of Caxton Associates.
West Palm Beach (HedgeCo.net) – Financial administration automation specialist, Confluence, released a new whitepaper for hedge fund administration executives, entitled "Hedge Fund Reporting: The Change Imperative".
"Mandates from investors, regulators, and auditors are driving significant change in hedge fund back offices," said Kirk Botula, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Confluence. "Each group is demanding new levels of due diligence, transparency, and disclosure that are driving never-before-seen hedge fund reporting requirements. Technology and automation can improve processes and offer the speed, control and flexibility needed in this new reporting environment."
A recent Rothstein Kass survey showed that 98% of hedge fund managers expect increased regulation of the hedge fund industry by the new administration—adding to burdens already imposed by FAS 157, FAS 161, and International Financial Reporting Standards.
The whitepaper also provides practical advice to help ensure that reporting processes are sufficient to meet these heightened demands. It offers best-practice recommendations and includes a "Sample Checklist" to help administrators evaluate their operations, whether they rely on outside service providers or their own internal back offices.
Alex Akesson
Edtior for HedgeCo.Net Email: alex@hedgeco.net
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West Palm Beach (HedgeCo.net) – Ali Mudeen has joined hedge fund provider ATC Group as managing director of its Cayman Islands operations.
Mudeen will oversee and build the firm’s Private Clients and Corporate Services practices in the region, as well as work closely at a group level with ATC’s hegde fund administration practice.
Mudeen brings over 20 years of international experience to ATC, having worked in the US, South America and the Caribbean in banking, legal and trust services. He joins ATC from Caledonian Global, where he was a director and shareholder and had overall responsibility for marketing and business and strategic development.
“Ali’s industry expertise and leadership make him an invaluable addition to the ATC executive team." Robert Govaerts, ATC’s chairman, said, "His broad knowledge base and commitment to client service will significantly enhance ATC’s leadership position in the industry.”
“ATC is an impressive financial services company with a clear vision for the future, having enjoyed strong growth even in these unprecedented economic conditions,” Mudeen said. “I am delighted to join a company which has such a strong focus on client services and on its people.”
Serving international business, private clients, capital markets and alternative investment funds, ATC was established in 1893. ATC employs over 350 professionals in 17 offices across Europe, the Caribbean and the Asia Pacific region.
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West Palm Beach (HedgeCo.net) – Citi is opening a daily operational suite of solutions for hedge fund managers that they hope will improve efficiency and allow managers to focus on optimizing investment decision making.
"The Hedge Fund Middle Office service has been designed to improve operational efficiency and transparency for hedge fund managers by providing independent third party operations," said Chandresh Iyer, Head of Global Custody and Investment Administration Services at Citi. "It can be used either on a stand-alone basis, or in conjunction with Citi’s suite of Hedge Fund Administration services," he added.
Citi’s Hedge Fund Middle Office services include a comprehensive suite of post-trade and pre-settlement services which are scalable and modular. The services are global and include technology solutions that help manage daily trade processing and P&L reporting, OTC confirmation and valuation, collateral management, corporate action processing and cash management. In addition, Citi’s solution allows hedge funds to move to a more variable operational cost model – an especially attractive feature in the current cost-constrained environment. Hedge Fund Middle Office services are available to funds operating in North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia-Pacific.
With the addition of Hedge Fund Middle Office, Citi’s Global Transaction Services now offers an end-to-end hedge fund servicing platform. The solutions include administration, custody and OpenPrime, a portfolio management and order management system that is prime broker agnostic.
Global Transaction Services, a division of Citi’s Institutional Clients Group, offers integrated cash management, trade, and securities and fund services to multinational corporations, financial institutions and public sector organizations around the world. With a network that spans more than 100 countries, Citi’s Global Transaction Services supports over 65,000 clients. As of the first quarter of 2009, it held on average $278 billion in liability balances and $10.3 trillion in assets under custody.
West Palm Beach (HedgeCo.net) – Along with an award for Hedge Fund Administrator of the year for their alternative investment services (AIS), the Bank of New York Mellon received 6 other awards at the International Custody & Fund Administration (ICFA) Global Awards 2009 in London.
BNY Mellon also received the award for White Paper of The Year for ‘Inside the Engine Room’, published in June 2008, which examined the operational challenges and opportunities for Nordic institutions.
The Global Awards judging panel included Dr Werner Frey, CEO of the European Securities Forum and Angela Knight, CEO of The British Bankers Association.
"Receiving both the Hedge Fund Administrator and Broker Dealer Custody & Clearing Provider awards shows that the industry has a profound appreciation of how we continue to meet the needs of our clients as their business models converge and evolve." Art Certosimo, Head of Alternative Investment & Broker-Dealer Services, said, "We are offering a unique combination of administration, custody, collateral management and liquidity services that enables our clients to deliver the services and transparency that investors are seeking."
Alex Akesson
Editor for HedgeCo.Net Email: alex@hedgeco.net
HedgeCo.Net is a premier hedge fund database and community for qualified and accredited investors only. Membership on www.hedgeco.net is FREE and EASY. We also offer FREE LISTINGS for Hedge Funds!
West Palm Beach (HedgeCo.net) – Hedge fund manager Meridian Global Fund Services Group has launched a hedge fund consulting affiliate team with Joyce E. Heinzerling as head.
The affiliate, Meridian Fund Advisers LLC, will provide hedge fund regulatory and corporate governance best practices advice to hedge funds both within and outside of the Meridian Global client base. In this capacity, Heinzerling will work side by side with her extensive network of leaders in the hedge fund legal and accounting fields.
“As President of Meridian Fund Advisers, Ms. Heinzerling will lead the development and delivery of our new hedge fund consulting affiliate, and help bring us to a position of distinction in the hedge fund administration industry in terms of a value add for our clients," said Randy Troy, President of Meridian Fund Services (USA) LLC.
"Meridian Fund Advisers essentially has been established to broaden and strengthen our dedication to clients in an effort to provide the highest level of client service in light of the increasingly complex issues that now arise in the hedge fund industry resulting from the heightened regulatory environment and exposure to litigation," Mr. Troy added.
Heinzerling joins Meridian Fund Advisers after serving nine years as General Counsel, CCO and Head of Operational Due Diligence at Archery Capital LLC, an investment adviser to emerging manager funds of funds. Prior to joining Archery Capital, Ms Heinzerling spent fourteen years in private practice advising hedge funds, venture capital funds, private equity funds, and mutual funds.
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