Athena Systems has launched Spark, a new cloud-based platform to help new hedge fund launches meet current and emerging DDQ requirements necessary to compete for assets with more established funds.
The pricing model of the platform is tied to a fund’s AUM and is designed to make implementing Spark an affordable an realistic option for funds at launch.
Standard features of the new platform include: pricing and security data; position, P&L, trade, compliance, risk, cash, recon, accounting (limited), etc; electronic trading with precertified broker/EMS connections; coverage of global equity, CFDs, options, FX, forwards, futures and vanilla FI; and SSAE16 certified hosting and disaster recovery.

Senior Account Manager Ross Grant says: “In 2016, smaller hedge funds and new launches continue to face significant headwinds. In the fierce competition for assets, there is an underlying pressure to develop solid organisational and operational structures worthy of the “institutional quality” moniker. Those factors, combined with regulatory and compliance directives, weighs heavily on a new launch. 
What Spark offers is an affordable, all-inclusive, solution targeting new launches. We provide the transparency, reporting, and compliance investors look for in determining where to allocate assets.
“Spark allows new launches to run lean but still meet the requirements necessary to attract new investments. Our cost structure is scaled to grow with AUM and as such, our product strategy aligns itself with a funds objective. I believe the value proposition we offer fills a gap in the industry.”
