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Choosing the best prime broker to support the strategy is vital, but will depend on the manager. A portfolio manager spinning out of a hedge fund with an established track record and experience in running a pot of capital, will likely want to appoint a tier one prime broker: the likes of Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley; especially if they are launching with significant AUM. They may, however, look to others as an alternate, or second, prime to mitigate risk and to provide certain outsourced services.
A true start-up, however, will likely be launching with limited capital and is going to
A recent survey by Preqin revealed that 60 per cent of hedge funds have less than USD100 million in AUM and that only 5 per cent of hedge fund flows go to funds operating below that AUM level.
There are now approximately 15,000 hedge funds in the industry, meaning investors are being bombarded by different funds every single day and thousands over the course of a year. They probably meet with 200 or so, engage in follow-up meetings with around 40 and allocate to two or three.
As such, there is one certainty that US start-ups can be sure of
By Bob Guilbert – You're a new fund manager, and somewhere on your task list the letters "IT" are probably followed by a question mark. Odds are, you don't have a technology background, so as your firm's Chief Operating/Financial/Compliance Officer (or in some cases, Portfolio Manager), the sudden responsibility you've undertaken as your firm's de facto IT Manager is intimidating at best.
The good news is, as a startup, your IT options are pretty clear. In 2016, there's no better technology decision a new firm can make than selecting a cloud platform – an infrastructure that has proven benefits including
Cloud technology – The scale of a manager's IT infrastructure will largely depend on the type of trading strategy. A quantitative market neutral statistical arbitrage fund is likely going to spend more capital on front-office portfolio management, risk management systems and server storage capabilities than a specialist credit strategy that trades infrequently.
Either way, investors will expect the manager to have a well-oiled machine in place: well-established workflow processes, operational controls, and, as far as possible, front- to back-office system integration.
One of the most popular routes to establishing a sound technology infrastructure is to appoint an outsourced cloud provider.
If one were to sum up the key role of a hedge fund administrator, it is to independently value a fund's assets, allocate those assets correctly to individual investors, and accurately report the allocations to those investors.
Investors want an administrator, not the manager, to independently calculate the fund's assets and monitor the books and records, and to report the fund's NAV. For any new start-up manager, it is worth remembering that when selecting the most appropriate administrator they understand that whilst the administrator will ordinarily perform a range of middle- and back-office functions, at a high level they:
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Choosing appropriate service providers is one of the cornerstones to creating a successful hedge fund business.
All too often, start-up managers try to appoint the big, bulge-bracket names but this is folly. Unless the manager in question has existing relationships with the likes of Goldman Sachs, and is launching with USD250 million or more in AUM, they will have precious little chance of becoming clients of the industry's leading asset servicers.
So the first thing to consider at the pre-launch phase is: who would be the best service providers to support you relative to the size of your fund?
"If
Operational due diligence or “ODD” are arguably three of the most important words for any start-up manager hopeful of attracting new investors. Such is the level of expectation among institutional investors today that even if the manager only has USD20-30m in AUM and outsources the CFO function, operationally they still must look and act like a serious outfit.
As Frank Napolitani (pictured), Director, Financial Services at EisnerAmper LLP, comments: “You have to be buttoned up from a front-middle-back-office, legal, compliance and infrastructure standpoint and have answers to things; for example, on the outsourced CFO point, they might want to say, `I
Although it might not necessarily be top-of-mind for a start-up manager, if they are serious about building a proper business then establishing a culture of compliance from the get-go is important.
A new hedge fund manager that is not required to register with the SEC "doesn't necessarily need to have as detailed a compliance manual as an SEC-registered investment adviser," says Brian Roberts (pictured), Senior Compliance Analyst and Hedge Fund Practice Associate for ACA Compliance Group, a leading regulatory compliance and consulting firm.
However, unregistered fund managers still owe their clients a fiduciary duty and are subject to a number
US hedge fund managers face significant regulatory requirements, which this chapter cannot possibly cover in detail. But there are a few key areas of particular import, which shall be summarised below. In addition, this chapter will highlight some of the key considerations for implementing a compliance manual; a must-do task for any ambitious start-up manager who intends to incorporate best practices from the get-go and place themselves in the best possible light with prospective investors.
Dodd-Frank Act
Already six years in, US hedge fund managers are subject to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010. If
Planning a hedge fund launch is a serious business. People need to decide whether they are truly ready, both financially and mentally, and be confident in their investment strategy. This may sound trite but all too often start-ups rush to get a hedge fund in place without clearly thinking everything through.
"It is a significant undertaking and should not be treated lightly. From a financial perspective the first thing to do is to create a budget broken down into three categories: budgeting for fund expenses, budgeting for manager expenses and finally budgeting for personal expenses," says Jeffrey I Rosenthal (pictured),
