Digital Assets Report

Newsletter

Like this article?

Sign up to our free newsletter

Opus Fund Services – Highly Commended North American Fund Administrator

Related Topics

Since it opened its doors in 2006, Opus has become one of the industry’s leading independent and privately owned full service fund administrators, providing a solid technology framework to deliver automated, middle and back office support to asset managers across the globe.

This is nicely summed up in the firm’s strap line: One Platform. One Process. One Price. One Solution.

Earlier this year, the firm, which already has offices in Bermuda, Chicago, Naperville and San Francisco, announced the opening of a New York office to focus, primarily, on business development. Heading up the office is Jorge Hendrickson (pictured), Director of Sales and Business Development.

Commenting at the time, Opus President Stephen Giannone said: “Our New York office represents a natural expansion allowing Opus to deliver our award winning Opus ONE offering directly to the local fund community.”

When it comes to gauging success, most administrators point at client growth, client retention, client feedback, technology, and relationships. In that regard, Opus is no different. When asked to give his scorecard assessment for the past 12 months, Hendrickson states: “The past 12 months have been very exciting, with our client base having grown by over 50 per cent and continued industry recognition for our ONE service offering.”

With respect to technology, last September Opus introduced the “Recon3” solution. This allows Opus to perform daily, automated trade, position and cash reconciliations between a fund manager, their prime broker(s) and Opus records, for an unlimited number of accounts.

Recon3 is a proprietary reconciliation engine developed in-house by Opus, underscoring its technology expertise. Using a comprehensive SQL-based definition and matching engine, Recon3 creates a unique identifier to allow 3-way reconciliations between the fund manager, prime broker and fund administrator.

“Funds appreciate our approach to client service, our proprietary technology and ethical pricing,” says Hendrickson, who believes that part of the reason for client growth has resulted from the dislocation and consolidation in the fund administration space, allowing it to capture “a meaningful percentage of the overall launch activity, both domestic and offshore”.

What has also helped Opus is identifying growth areas and prepare itself appropriately to capture opportunities where others have not. “An example of this is the growth in Managed Account Platforms. As investors look for new ways to allocate capital to managers, this structure has become increasingly popular. Opus has been able to foresee this trend and provide a custom technology solution.”

Staying technologically nimble has enabled the Opus proprietary platform to continuously develop to meet clients’ ever-changing needs. “This gives us the ability to create custom solutions, integrated directly into our SSAE16 compliant process, to meet the regulatory challenges and investor demands our clients face today. We are able to build what we need to service our clients, rather than be forced to use a technology firm’s rigid interpretation of their client base requirements,” says Hendrickson.

This customised approach is becoming an increasingly important diversifier when managers are selecting which administrator(s) to work with.

“The more we know about a client’s business, the better we can identify ways to help managers during all parts of their lifecycle. We are strong believers that this is a relationship business. When coupled with robust technology, we are able to work with funds of all types, structures and sizes.”

It seems to be working. In June alone, Opus had 15 new launches, with Hendrickson confirming that the summer of months of July and August – traditionally a quiet period – are looking to be “just as busy”.

“Overall, our focus over the next 12 months is simply to continue our award-winning work.”

Like this article? Sign up to our free newsletter

Most Popular

Further Reading

Featured