Augentius, the global private equity and real estate fund administration specialist, has launched a new compliance consultancy, Augentius Compliance.
The service will support the entire alternatives sector, and marks the very first time a fund administrator has moved into compliance consultancy. Augentius Compliance will offer new customers a free ‘compliance health check’, available on request.
The move comes in response to high demand from clients. Alternatives funds today face an unprecedented, ever-expanding, and ever-changing maze of new regulatory rules and reporting obligations, the details of which differ considerably across jurisdictions. Augentius has already been assisting its clients with FATCA obligations for some time, and recently launched a sophisticated AIFMD reporting product that allows fund managers to outsource the capability where needed, before bringing it in-house when desired. As a fund administrator, Augentius’ deep understanding of the industry and day-to-day involvement with its clients’ businesses – along with its global reach – makes it uniquely suited to offer wider compliance consultancy.
Ian Kelly, CEO of Augentius, says: “Keeping on top of the volume and complexity of regulation in the alternatives space is proving a real headache for many firms, and can be a distraction from their core priority of delivering returns to investors. Yet failing to stay up to date and ensuring compliance at all times is simply not an option, especially given the proactive stance of today’s regulators.
“Firms need support in this area from a trusted partner that knows their industry as well as their specific business inside out. This is why compliance consultancy is such a natural move for us; we work closely with our clients on a daily basis, and understand the regulatory challenges they face on a very practical level – far more so than any pure consultancy business could. Compliance is a natural extension to our core administration business.”
In addition to ongoing compliance support, the new company offers FCA authorisation and approval services, as well as comprehensive regulatory training for client employees. All services will be provided on a bespoke basis to UK alternatives funds. In addition, Augentius is offering a complete ‘compliance health check’ for free. Augentius Compliance will conduct a review of an organisation’s entire business with a view to identifying compliance weak spots.
The Augentius Compliance team boasts extensive compliance expertise. It will be led by Arafat Shah, who brings with him the benefit of 21 years in the industry (8 of which were with the UK regulator).
