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Hedge fund managers have two options when looking to bring a regulated fund product to Europe. The first is to go the UCITS route, the second is to establish an AIF, under the much more recent AIFM Directive, which is a far less trodden path than the UCITS regime.
ML Capital has two platforms to offer a complete regulated fund solution. The Dublin-domiciled MontLake UCITS platform has been operating since October 2010 while the MontLake QIAIF platform was established last December.
“It really is the strategy that is driving managers down one route or the other. If the strategy is
Luxembourg-based Fuchs Asset Management is not your typical AIFM provider. Its heritage is firmly rooted in wealth management. Having now grown into a team exceeding 100 people, it took the decision to diversify its offering and set up an AIFMD-compliant management company, receiving its license from the CSSF last June.
“With the substance needed to run an AIF today, a lot of mid-sized managers are now thinking: are we going to take on the burden of running our own AIFM, or are we going to use a third party?
“We now have the size and scale to consider such an
“I was in Chicago recently. A German pension fund said they had a USD500m allocation in a Chicago-based fund. They wanted to know that they could continue having a relationship with the manager and they said that having the depositary guarantee (under AIFMD) was important to their end investors. They told the manager that they wanted to put their USD500m allocation into an EU-regulated fund.
“We now have four funds on our AIFM platform that have come as a result of that market sentiment among investors,” confirms Derek Delaney (pictured) of DMS Offshore Group.
Although still early days, the point
The AIFM Directive may not be universally welcome but with greater focus being applied to compliance and operational risk oversight within the fund management industry, it is at least ensuring a new breed of higher quality fund manager; which for investors is good news.
“On the one hand AIFMD raises the threshold for new managers, but on the other hand once you’re AIFMD-compliant it makes things much easier from a capital raising perspective. The reason we exist is to help managers overcome that threshold and make the transition from a pre-AIFMD local framework to a pan-European standard,” comments Gerhard Grueter
Cordium, one of the industry’s leading regulatory and compliance firms, has devised a new offering for the European market to help managers overcome the marketing challenges of AIFMD.
Entitled the Cordium Total AIFM Solution (CTAS), the objective is to establish a fully functioning AIFM in Malta on behalf of the managers to support their plans to launch AIFMD-compliant funds.
Managers currently have two choices under the directive: to either operate their own AIFM and take on the management company responsibility, or to use a hosted AIFM solution. Where CTAS differs is that the manager retains full ownership of
Last May, MS Management Services SA, a Luxembourg-based subsidiary of the Maitland group, received authorisation from the CSSF to act as a third-party AIFM to alternative investment funds. At the same time, it established its own umbrella fund platform, MS SICAV SIF, to support managers wishing to fast track the process of launching an AIFMD-compliant fund in Europe.
Although less than a year in operation, there are already plans to extend the AIFM license capabilities to support private equity and real estate managers, in addition to hedge funds.
“We already provide administration services for PERE funds. Also, we have the
Ask any AIFM what the key regulatory challenge is under AIFMD and the response is unanimous: Annex IV reporting.
The first deadline, 31 January 2015, has passed. But there are still many points to clarify on a substantial transparency report; one that any manager, EU or non-EU, must file regardless of whether they are using the AIFMD passport or merely privately placing their offshore fund in one or two markets.
“EU-based AIFMs left it to the very last minute to begin the process and there was a mad scramble to gather a range of disparate data from all their service
Alternative fund managers wishing to continue to market their funds into Europe have to navigate unchartered territory. The AIFMD only really kicked in last July at the end of the grandfathering period, since when both EU and non-EU AIFMs have started to treat the directive more seriously.
This is a complex piece of regulation and, in a similar fashion to the UCITS framework, managers have multiple options available to them. This report considers one option in particular – appointing a third party AIFM (or Management Company), and the fund distribution benefits that this can bring; be it for new funds
Audax Group has made a significant investment in Corepoint Health.
Headquartered in Frisco, Texas, Corepoint delivers a simplified approach to internal and external health data integration and exchange for hospitals, radiology centres, laboratories, and clinics. Corepoint’s software solutions help health care providers achieve interoperability goals that create operational leverage within their care organisation. Audax’ investment will fund the continued growth of Corepoint and the ongoing support of its customer base.
“Corepoint is a leading provider of interoperability software with an unparalleled reputation for customer service and satisfaction. We look forward to partnering with the Corepoint team to continue to grow
Independent fund administrator Apex Fund Services has appointed Dennis Westley as Managing Director, North America with immediate effect.
By leveraging Apex's ability to bring global fund structures to the US, Westley will have responsibility for growing Apex's North American operations and integrating potential acquisitions. Reporting directly to Apex's Global CEO, Bill Salus, Westley will also manage Apex's offices in New York, New Jersey, Florida and Toronto.
Westley has over 30 years experience in the investment and financial services industry. He was previously a managing director in BNY Mellon's Alternative Investment Services group where he was Head of North American Client
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