HedgeWeek – As hedge funds have become a growth area for the North American marketplace, Toronto has emerged as the Canadian hub for the industry, thanks to its stable business environment, supportive regulatory framework and favourable conditions for growth.
For its part, the Canadian government has been supportive toward the growth of the hedge fund industry, having done their due diligence to help ensure that investors are protected and that the right conditions remain in place to preserve the stability of the environment.
Toronto is benefiting in particular from the trend among institutional investors to adopt hedge fund or hedge fund-like strategies. Many of the market’s leading service providers, including RBC Dexia Investor Services, have undertaken considerable investment in this area, demonstrating their commitment to new markets, investment structures and risk management capabilities. This type of investment and commitment will
continue to be vital as these providers seek to keep pace with the hedge fund community and service the needs of their clients – not only today but for years to come.
As the industry becomes more institutionalised, hedge funds will continue to look for providers who are willing to partner with them in terms of development. For example, many managers are not planning to develop a full risk management capability in-house. Instead, they might opt to outsource such functions to specialist service providers, who can offer the infrastructure necessary to manage their risks in the proper fashion. Many institutional investors these days see tremendous value in the additional comfort provided by a thirdparty compliance offering.