With over 1,500 employees in international locations, over 250 employees and 40 partners dedicated to the financial services practice, EisnerAmper LLP has the breadth to handle global engagements and provide comprehensive guidance and support to its roster of hedge fund clients.
EisnerAmper currently services a large number of hedge funds and private equity/venture capital sponsors. Whomever the client, the firm always strives to speak their language and avoid using technical accounting jargon.
“With respect to hedge funds, our book of business grew by approximately 100 new funds clients in 2017 and over 300 new fund clients since 2015. We service over 1,350 hedge funds and fund-of-funds and over 1,000 venture capital/private equity funds..
“When I joined three years ago, EisnerAmper had 1,000 funds. So we’ve enjoyed significant growth over a three-year period,” explains Frank Napolitani, Director, Financial Services at EisnerAmper LLP.
Over the years, EisnerAmper has forged a reputation in the US market for delivering proactive, responsive, high quality service. This is due, in part, to the commitment to partner-level involvement.
To build on that reputation and brand equity, EisnerAmper announced last week that it is opening an office in London, headed up by Robert Mirsky, who will also operate as Head of the Asset Management Group. “As Brexit unfolds, Europe is facing an unprecedented period of economic and regulatory challenges and opportunities,” commented Charles Weinstein, Chief Executive Officer of EisnerAmper LLP. He added that Mirksy, a prominent figure who has been advising investment fund managers for more than 20 years, will “greatly enhance our ability to offer clients highly specialised, expert financial advisory services”.
“At the moment, managers use either the Big Four or smaller boutique firms so we believe the time is right to step in and build on the excellent hedge fund services business we’ve built in the US. It’s taken many years to build our position and reputation in the US market. And we understand the same will apply to London,” states Napolitani.
“There are a number of reasons why managers choose a mid-market accounting firm like EisnerAmper. One is that we have a number of partners with extensive Big Four experience working for us, meaning clients are able to access a deep bench of specialised talent.
“Secondly, when managers are going through ODD, institutional investors might say that they would prefer them to move upstream from a boutique outfit to a middle-market operator, which plays to our advantage,” explains Napolitani.
Such is the complexity of regulation and compliance, managers have questions they want asking. They want to know they can talk to trusted partners to get advice and build consensus before they move into certain areas and as Napolitani remarks: “We are happy to be there for them.”
The consulting group with EisnerAmper financial services, which comprises Napolitani, Jaclyn Greco in New York and Eugene Tetlow in San Francisco, is actively engaged with the market every day. This places EisnerAmper at a competitive advantage to other accounting firms who don’t have a consulting group and is one of the reasons for its continued year-on-year success.
“For over 20 years, I’ve always stuck to the idea of helping clients first, and sticking to my word. Culturally, that loyalty has extended to our financial services consulting group as a whole,” says Napolitani.
On winning this year’s award, he replies: “We are honoured. We’ve been the beneficiaries of a number of industry awards and believe our focus on providing high quality client service coupled with extensive alternative investment experience has been the bedrock of our growth in recent years.”
