London based investment manager Helford Capital Partners has launched a new AIFM fund manager hosting platform aimed at investment professionals looking to launch their own fund under the Alternative Investment Fund Manager Directive (AIFMD).
The platform offers prospective managers a fast and highly cost effective ‘turnkey’ solution to starting their own fund. Helford also provides an on-going & full hands-on support service including regulatory hosting and oversight, plus full marketing and investor relations management.
Helford Capital Partners announced in a statement today that the new Manager Platform will fill the niche that currently exists between fund platforms (most of whom normally require start-ups to have seeding above GBP20 million) and CTA platforms (which are for managed accounts rather than funds). The USP of the Manager Platform is the high level of support services offered to the managers on the platform by the Helford team. The Manager Platform was formally launched on 1 June 2017 and currently has five firms, four of them start-ups, with aggregate assets under management of USD40 million.
Christophe Sailland co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Helford Capital Partners, who was previously a Managing Director at Bank of Montreal, explains the reasons behind the launch, says: “Ever since we set up our fund [Helford Global I], we have seen a steady stream of friends and ex- colleagues coming to us asking for our assistance in setting up their own funds. Initially we did so just to help out; but soon we realised that not only did we enjoy the process, we also had the internal capacity, skill set, and experience to create this as a service for the market.
“For us, and our clients, the win-win part of the formula is that the managers we assist actually own their own fund. This gives them the ability to choose, manage and control their preferred service providers, such as custodians, administrators, banks, and brokers. Consequently the manager has control over the operation of the fund – for instance the manager can choose their banking provider based on their preferred quality of credit – along with the security and comfort of knowing that it’s their own fund.”
The Manager Platform is also managed by Helford co-founder and COO, hedge fund veteran Nick Moran, previously COO at Buchanan Partners and who held senior management positions at FRM and Schroders New Finance, who says: “We partner with investment managers to launch their fund, assisting them in choosing the most appropriate fund structure, domicile and service providers. We offer a highly cost-effective service and provide objective guidance throughout the process. Helford can efficiently manage all aspects of the fund launch. The managers are then placed under our FCA regulatory umbrella and supervision. This means that we take care of the ever increasing regulatory oversight requirements, leaving the managers to do what they do best, manage the assets in their fund.”
New to Helford Capital Partners is Tony Burke who started in the City on the floor of the London Stock Exchange in 1978. Previously he was running his own FCA regulated firm, but a chance meeting with Nick (a previous work colleague) and Christophe, led to a series of conversations, and then to Tony joining to handle the marketing and investor relations for managers on the platform. Tony says: “I am thrilled to be able to bring my proven experience in marketing and investor relations to Helford Capital Partners. Through our dedicated network we can offer our clients a fund sales, distribution, and communications package – if required – giving comprehensive coverage of professional investors in all key European and US markets.”
