Industry veterans Jorge R de Cardenas, Scott A Merriam and Aaron M Bernstein have launched TrustServe – a new private equity, venture capital and real estate fund administration business based in Miami, Florida.Co-founder and former managing director of Kaufman Rossin Fund Services (KRFS), Jorge de Cardenas will lead TrustServe LP as CEO, along with industry veterans Scott Merriam and Aaron Bernstein.
Prior to launching TrustServe, de Cardenas co-founded Kaufman Rossin Fund Services where he served as Managing Director from 1994 until its 2016 sale to ALPS Fund Services, a subsidiary of NYSE listed DST Systems. At ALPS, de Cardenas served as the Managing Director of the alternative asset servicing business from 2016 to 2019. Scott Merriam led KRFS’ and ALPS’ Private Equity Services business. Aaron Bernstein led KRFS’ and ALPS’ Operations Technology and Client onboarding businesses units.
Collectively, TrustServe’s founders have the experience of building and leading an independent administrator that was acquired, and then reacquired by publicly traded administrators. With this understanding, they have seen an increasingly commoditised industry where customer service is in decline and realised an opportunity to offer something new.
“We’re seeing the industry plagued with frustration, including employee turnover and outdated technology,” says de Cardenas. “TrustServe is built on the idea that fund administration is positioned to provide extraordinary value to general partners and investors. We believe in working alongside our clients as one team to help them achieve extraordinary results,” de Cardenas continues.
TrustServe leverages modern technology, offering clients a suite of solutions covering accounting, CRM, investor portals, portfolio monitoring and business intelligence. The platform is one hundred percent dedicated to private equity style funds with the capability of handling complex waterfall calculations and other nuances specific to committed capital structures. TrustServe’s clients have access to this technology and data, helping them to make more informed decisions and reduce operational expenses.
TrustServe provides a wide range of administration, operations, accounting, tax and regulatory compliance services to investment vehicles, general partners and management companies. The firm’s clients include private equity, real estate, venture capital, credit, energy, fund of funds and family offices.