IKONIC Fund Services (IKONIC) was incorporated in 2007 as a Bermuda exempted company and is a licensed Fund Administrator under the Bermuda Monetary Authority Investment Fund Act 2006.
IKONIC was founded by a leadership team with significant in-depth knowledge and expertise in fund administration. Over the years, its success has been built on the stability, professionalism and expertise of a large organisation combined with the flexibility, autonomy and character of a hands-on niche provider. IKONIC specialises in supporting hedge funds, fund of hedge funds, private equity funds and funds investing in insurance linked securities.
It currently services more than 140 client entities from its Bermuda, Charlotte (North Carolina) and Cayman offices with clients ranging from emerging managers to billion dollar institutional funds.
On 10th June 2016, IKONIC was acquired by the Horseshoe Group, following a successful period of partnership, which began in 2011 through the creation of a joint venture called ILS Fund Services Ltd.
“This is an exciting time for us," says Brian Desmond (pictured), Head of the IKONIC fund services division. "We are now part of a group with in excess of USD20 billion in assets under administration. This gives our fund services business more presence in the market; prior to the acquisition we had approximately USD9 billion in AuA.
"When we formed the joint venture with Horseshoe, the objective was to combine the best of both worlds to service hedge funds investing in reinsurance – Horseshoe were the leading service provider in the insurance linked security market with actuarial valuation expertise and IKONIC had extensive expertise in providing fund administration services. Within four years, assets in that joint venture rose to approximately USD5 billion, supporting more than 40 funds. The partnership worked so well that it led to IKONIC officially joining the Horseshoe Group this summer."
Desmond says that there are two main pillars to its Fund Services business. One to support open-ended hedge funds and the other to support closed-ended private equity-type funds. Going forward, the plan is to leverage the Horseshoe Group to attract larger investment managers.
"We will still be active in the start-up manager space but we want to continue to build out our business with managers running north of USD200 million in AUM that are looking for a full service offering including daily reporting and middle office services.
"We've proven that we can service institutional billion dollar clients, meet their investor's stringent due diligence requirements' and provide excellent service. Over the next 12 months, we will look to attract larger hedge fund clients while continuing to partner and grow with our current client base," explains Desmond.
He notes that this year IKONIC has enjoyed good success in the US domestic market as it builds out its book of Delaware-based hedge funds.
"We've built fantastic technology that supports the liquid end of the spectrum, and it's an area that we want to grow quickly. I believe that our reputation in the US market is such that people are confident that IKONIC does an excellent job. It's now a matter of leveraging that reputation to take on larger client mandates in the liquid hedge fund space," confirms Desmond.
On winning this year's award, Desmond replies: "We are extremely proud to win this Hedgeweek award and are very grateful to our clients and other service providers we work closely with that voted for us."
