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Heritage Depositary Company (UK) Limited (Heritage Depositary) operates what the FCA refers to as a `PE Alternative Investment Fund (AIF) depositary'. Whilst it is able to provide full depositary services to most AIF structures, Heritage's depositary services are focused on, but not limited to private equity, real estate, infrastructure, venture capital and esoteric alternative funds investing in both developed and emerging markets.
"The AIF's we oversee invest in what are classed as non-financial assets. We do however have the capability to hold such `Financial Assets' through our recognised and authorised global custodian," explains Gerry Warwick, Director of Heritage Depositary.
One of the primary reasons for investment managers choosing to use regulatory hosted services such as those provided by Mirabella, part of the Cordium group, is because of the time it takes regulators to approve manager applications; sometimes up to nine months in the UK.
For start-up managers entering the market for the first time, or existing managers outside of Europe who are looking for an AIFMD solution, the Mirabella platform, either alone or in tandem with the Cordium Total AIFM Solution (CTAS) provides a clear, cost-effective pathway.
Where CTAS differs from the usual outsourced AIFM solution is
For EU and non-EU managers, the ability to choose between AIFMD or UCITS regimes to bring a regulated fund product to market with minimal fuss is a compelling one. With its unique business model, ML Capital has proven to the marketplace that there are many ways to scale the walls of so-called "Fortress Europe".
ML Capital operates two Dublin-domiciled platforms that between them are capable of supporting a wide range of alternative investment strategies, from the most liquid end of the scale to the most illiquid end. The MontLake UCITS Platform was established in October 2010, while the MontLake QIAIF
Regulatory reporting remains a pertinent issue for a lot of fund managers under AIFMD. One of the attractions of going with a fully outsourced AIFM, which can also provide sub-fund capabilities for those dipping their toe into Europe, is that the reporting and operational compliance function is taken care of.
But for those managers who wish to continue to privately place their offshore funds into Europe, the regulatory reporting requirement under Annex IV is a key operational task; and one that they increasingly rely on their fund administrator to help with.
ConceptONE, LLC, which specialises in regulatory reporting and
Two of the most important considerations for any hedge fund manager under AIFMD are deciding on who to appoint as an external AIFM (or "Management Company") and also who to appoint as a depositary; the latter of which is discussed later in this report.
As registered AIFMs, European hedge fund managers are required to separate out their portfolio management and risk management functions. That is fine for established managers with well-developed front to back teams.
But for smaller managers, who only just qualify as AIFMs by exceeding the EUR100m, they may not have sufficient capital and may not be
AreaMetrics, a Seattle-based consumer analytics platform for brick and mortar retailers, has secured a USD2 million seed round of financing led by early stage venture capital firms Startup Capital Ventures and Quest Venture Partners.
Other early stage investors, including Seraph Group, Social Starts, and previous angel investors, also joined the round. The new capital will allow the company to rapidly expand the reach of its consumer insight, onboard national retailers, and add key members to its executive team.
AreaMetrics is a customer intelligence platform that helps retailers generate more revenue by understanding customer interests, preferences, and shopping patterns. The
AlphaSense has secured USD33 million in growth capital from Tribeca Venture Partners, Triangle Peak Partners, and Quantum Strategic Partners (a private investment vehicle managed by Soros Fund Management), as well as notable individual investors such as Tom Glocer, formerly CEO of Thomson Reuters.
AlphaSense launched its service in 2011 and today serves more than 400 investment firms, banks and corporations globally. AlphaSense will use the new capital for product advancement and for accelerating its growth in serving its core investment research and corporate intelligence markets, as well as its expansion into new market verticals.
AlphaSense provides intelligent search and
Zeus has made its first step into the Oil and Gas and Mining sectors with the appointment with immediate effect of Rob Collins as a Corporate Finance Director and Head of Natural Resources.
Collins has been Head of Oil and Gas Banking at Evolution Group, and Head of Natural Resources at Canaccord, before joining GMP Europe.
Further appointments for this new sector team will be announced in due course.
Darren Ellis, COO of Zeus, says: “We believe that these sectors fit well into our strategy and that we are building a specialist team at the right point in
Property Partner – the property crowdfunding platform that allows anyone to invest in residential property at the click of a button – has completed a GBP15.9 million (USD22.4 million) funding round, taking the total amount invested in the company to GBP22.5m (USD31.7m).
Launched barely a year ago in January 2015, Property Partner already boasts more than 6200 customers – who have together invested more than GBP24 million across 166 properties – and has been recognised by KPMG as one of the world’s top 50 emerging Fintech companies.
Property Partner’s mission to make property investment available to all has now received a
Victory Park Capital (VPC), an investment firm focused on private middle market debt and equity investments, has promoted three experienced investment professionals, and made three new hires.
The promotions are as follows: Gordon Watson, Partner. Watson helps oversee direct private debt and equity investments in the specialty finance sector. Based in New York, Watson joined VPC in 2014 and has 10 years of experience investing in a diverse range of alternative investments for middle market companies. Watson was previously a portfolio manager centered on distressed debt at GLG Partners, a London-based hedge fund manager. He joined GLG after it purchased
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