Solutions
The most vital asset a business controls is its information. As the driver of many business processes, data is a powerful tool, and therefore has to be secure, accurate and accounted for. When this sensitive information gets into the wrong hands, it can cause serious damage to a firm’s business operations and reputation.
Types of dirty data
Forgotten data poses a critical security risk to financial firms. This type of data includes old reports, archived emails, outdated customer information and information that is stored on devices you may not realise (eg flash drives, scanners, printers, and video conference equipment). Verizon’s 2008
By Jason Lawrence (pictured), IT Director and Group Information Security Officer, Augentius – Cybercrime is one of the most serious threats currently facing financial services firms. Yet, while the risk is also present for private equity and real estate funds, the level of recognition towards the threat is notably absent in this sector.
So why is this? It appears to be due to a prevailing misconception that cybercriminals do not have sufficient understanding of how funds operate and that many are too small to be of any appeal. However, a PFM report entitled Cyber Security in Private Equity: How Prepared
By George Ralph, RFA – Imagine you’re the CTO of a successful hedge fund. You’re not big enough to have a dedicated CISO but you think you’re doing a pretty good job of securing your network. Your applications and databases are secure, you’ve just invested in a network intrusion detection system and some next generation firewalls.
Next, you move on to your internet traffic and cloud services. You make sure your firm’s SSL certificates are up to date, and you use HTTPS and OAuth2.0. Then you insist all remote users access the network via secure VPN, that files are
Running an alternative fund management business has become a far more considered, strategic affair in the light of significant regulatory changes post-08. One might compare it to the ultimate game of strategy, chess. To stay in compliance with AIFMD, Dodd-Frank, and the upcoming MiFID II and General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) in Europe, fund managers have to think two moves ahead, and ensure that they have their pawns in position. One wrong move and they run the risk of facing what might be best described as regulatory checkmate.
“I think the implementation of AIFMD has had the biggest impact on
By George Ralph (pictured), RFA – In these turbulent times, it sometimes feels like we need to be armour plated to protect ourselves against the relentless barrage of attacks against our families, our businesses, our economy and our political stability.
Risk management, and cybersecurity have never felt more important than right now, in light of global events.
Our clients; alternative investment firms, private equity firms, prime brokers and insurance firms have a specific set of risks that they need to manage, and the list continually shifts in order of importance.
Top of the risk list is business continuity. Making sure you
Evolution Equity Partners has held the final closing of a new fund with total capital commitments of USD125 million to make investments in cybersecurity and next generation enterprise software and services in North America, Europe and Israel.
The fund exceeded its target and is backed by leading institutional investors, corporates, family offices and technology entrepreneurs from the United States and Europe including Cisco Investments, The European Investment Fund (EIF), Witelo Fund (PZU Insurance Group), Alpha Associates among others.
The Evolution Technology Fund will make investments in the range of USD5 million to USD25 million in early and growth stage
By George Ralph (pictured), RFA – The aptly named WannaCry cryptoworm, is working its way around the world, encrypting data and demanding ransom payments in the cryptocurrency, bitcoin.
The attack was global in scale, and brought parts of the NHS to a standstill, along with Telefonica in Spain, FedEx, Deutsche Bahn and LATAM Airlines, to name a few.
For financial services firms, WannaCry is a wakeup call, because although the sector seems to have escaped relatively unscathed, so far, the next attack is just around the corner, and:
1) WannaCry has all the signs of an amateur attack.
By George Ralph (pictured), RFA – Cyber security has never been as important as it is today. The Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2017, published recently by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and undertaken by Ipsos Mori highlights some statistics that should make even the most jaded CIOs sit up and take notice.
Of the 1500+ businesses surveyed, 74 per cent say cyber security is a very high priority for their senior management, and 67 per cent have spent money on cyber security in some shape or form in the past year. For medium sized businesses, the number of organisations
Attend almost any financial industry event today and the chances are a panel discussion will refer to blockchain and the transformation opportunities it could afford the industry. It has become a buzzword, a term that one has to pretend to understand and nod sagely whenever it comes up in conversation. If you don’t understand blockchain, you’re not in the club, cast aside as a technological Luddite.
In short, blockchain is a shared digital, immutable ledger that records events or transactions within a fully distributed or peer-to-peer network, whether public or private, and verifies them across the number of participants operating
Fintech company Koger has added new functionality to its Pentas platform for private equity firms which automate the distribution waterfall. Pentas streamlines and automates the administration of PE funds and is designed for all fund structures.
“The calculation and execution involved with the distribution waterfall present some of the most complex operations for private equity firms,” says Ras Sipko, Koger Chief Operating Officer. “Our Pentas PE platform automates and simplifies the process, offering flexibility and control in tracking commitments, processing capital calls and calculating distributions for increased accuracy and efficiency,”
Pentas automates the comprehensive calculation of the distribution process, from return
Events
12 November, 2026 – 8:00 am
12 November, 2026 – 5:00 pm
