Waystone: Best Offshore Regulatory & Compliance Firm and Best UCITS Platform – The DMS Group and MontLake, now jointly known as Waystone, are delighted to have been recognised with European Hedgeweek awards with DMS announced as the winner of the Best Regulatory & Compliance Firm category and MontLake taking the Best UCITS Platform award.
“2020 proved to be a pivotal year for the MontLake UCITS Platform,” commented Richard Day (pictured), Global Head of Product at Waystone, “the strength of the platform infrastructure, our focus on investor servicing and a high touch operating model assisted managers and investors with navigating through an incredibly challenging period. 2020 saw record inflows into our Investment Solutions Funds with the Advent Global Partners UCITS Fund and the Crabel Gemini UCITS Fund being the standout performers, with the latter breaching the billion dollar mark in October 2020. The team’s continued focus on non-correlated alternative UCITS strategies puts us in a good position for an equally strong 2021.”
Pádraic Durkan, Director at Waystone further commented, “We’re delighted to have, once again, been awarded the title of Best Regulatory & Compliance firm. This is a testament to the strong team we have in place, together with the robust infrastructure of our fund governance operation. As the global leader in fund governance, we have always worked diligently to maintain the highest standards, giving investors assurance that their funds will be managed in accordance with their objectives and for the benefit of their investors.”
The last year was a prominent one for both groups. Following an agreement with DMS Group, MDO and MontLake to create the world’s leading global governance firm and third-party management company, they have just launched a new brand, Waystone. Partnering with institutional investors, investment funds and asset managers, Waystone builds, supports and protects investment structures and strategies worldwide. With over 20 years’ experience and a comprehensive range of specialist services to its name, Waystone is now supporting asset managers with more than USD1 trillion in assets.
The new brand reflects what Waystone means to its clients. Feedback received by Waystone during its brand audit from both clients and partners, carried the consistent message that their clients felt assured of the level of service they received, with a key comment being that they “could sleep easy at night with Waystone looking after them”. Waystone’s key message is ‘certainty in your world’ and is derived from its new logo symbol, which represents a stylised ‘way stone’, so-called because it was used to make compass magnets to guide mariners in the 1500s.
While the rebrand was announced this week, the integration of the three groups has already taken place and they have been working together as one team for some time. With a vast and complementary expertise, the three companies are natural partners.
The resulting merger makes for a well-rounded business with an extensive range of services. Waystone is the only organisation with full licenses and operations in all of the key financial centres throughout Europe. It is its size, global reach and breadth of services that make Waystone an institutional brand that is leading the market.
Looking ahead, Waystone is set to continue to grow as the global leader in institutional governance, risk and compliance services to investors and the asset management industry as they look to enter new markets and to add new services in direct response to investor and client demand.
Richard Day, Global Head of Product, Waystone
Richard Day is Global Head of Product at Waystone following the merger of MontLake, MDO and DMS to create the leading global management company and governance leader in 2020. At Waystone, Richard is responsible for the development of the Waystone product suite working collaboratively with different departments and senior management across a diverse skillset covering operational and strategic management, global client solutions, business development and corporate acquisitions.
Pádraic Durkan, Director, Waystone
Pádraic Durkan joined Waystone in January 2019 and is based in the London office. Pádraic is responsible for establishing and maintaining partnerships and business relationships to market the Waystone European products and services. He brings with him a wealth of legal experience within financial markets and is a member of the Law Society of Ireland. Prior to joining Waystone, Pádraic qualified as a solicitor with A&L Goodbody, with expertise in aviation finance, structured finance, PE and investment funds.
