The management software development company Kurtosys has developed a web based investor servicing solution for hedge funds and private equity managers.
The management software development company Kurtosys has developed a web based investor servicing solution for hedge funds and private equity managers. Based on research and a survey conducted with Scorpio Partnership, a wealth management consultancy, the need for a cost effective web based service was identified as a priority in improving the service to investors whilst also reducing the costs. Catherine Tillotson, director at Scorpio Partnership, said: "Transparent, timely information is the top priority of advisors and investors in alternative investments. The demand for better quality fund reporting will be the biggest challenge facing alternative investment fund managers in the coming months and beyond." The survey indicated that given the costs and in house resources involved in providing web based investor servicing many of the small and medium sized funds have not been able to implement user friendly investor servicing solutions. At the other end of the spectrum, many of the larger fund managers have developed such a service but the cost of ownership is significant due to its proprietary nature, according to the survey. Mash Patel, director at Kurtosys, said: "The Kurtosys solution exploits a generic approach and provides the benefits of a secure web service based application at a significantly reduced cost. This can be fully customised to individual funds with a zero IT footprint internally. Hedge funds and private equity firms can remain focused on their core business eliminating the hassle of maintaining an online repository of documents. Kurtosys provides a timely and comprehensive reporting service which is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year". In a statement, Kurtosys said: "The initial response to the service has been extremely encouraging and confirms the appetite for such a service and the global power of the web. Kurtosys is already responding to enquiries from hedge funds and fund administrators in the US, Caribbean, Germany and the UK to provide a fully hosted service with availability in each time zone". Background Note: Kurtosys was founded in 2002 to develop information management software for financial services with particular focus on fund and wealth management businesses (private banks & family offices). It currently has specialised products to address needs in Investor Servicing & Reporting, Client Management, Management Information and Compliance Exceptions Monitoring. Kurtosys has significant clients in the alternative fund industry and private banking and has recently completed projects for clients in the UK, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Netherlands and Hong Kong.