Horseshoe: Best Offshore Hedge Fund Administrator – As the pace of change accelerates, operational excellence, customisation and innovation becomes critical. In view of this, Horseshoe is focused on growing its brand in the fund administration industry by launching services to help clients streamline their processes and improve their efficiency.
The firm’s developments are testament to its commitment to the industry. One example of this is the Horseshoe Investor Onboarding Portal (HIOP). Brian Desmond (pictured) FCA, CSO and EVP Head of Fund Services, Horseshoe, gives further detail: “Our proprietary platform built in house in 2018 is becoming a real differentiator for us. It brings to our clients a super-lean and efficient e-platform that streamlines the AML/KYC/FATCA process and enables online subscriptions and redemptions.”
Another example of the firm’s progress in terms of upholding best practice is AltaReturn, a leading institutional platform for its private equity clients. According to Desmond, this platform is not only offering clients operational excellence and end- to-end solution, but it is also providing them with automated ILPA compliant reporting, a huge step towards best practice.
Further, since valuation of level 3 insurance linked securities (‘ILS”) has come under heightened scrutiny from investors, Horseshoe has continued to grow its valuation practice, investing significantly in top actuarial talent and rapidly earning a reputation as a thought leader in the space. As a result, Desmond says the firm has become the administrator of choice for many sophisticated ILS structures and fund managers. “We have also developed data tools, using AI techniques to verify inputs to valuation calculations, through data extraction from original contracts,” he adds.
Horseshoe is also providing side pocket solutions. Desmond explains: “Following the large catastrophe weather events of 2017 and 2018, many hedge fund managers managing ILS securities had to create side pockets, due to valuation uncertainly and trapped collateral. Horseshoe led the market and helped its clients, by creating new innovative ways to account for these side pockets, a first for the industry.”
Through a series of enrichment of its systems, services and processes, Horseshoe has stepped into this challenging environment as a key partner to its hedge fund clients. The firm’s progress has helped clients meet regulatory & compliance requirements, increase operational efficiency, achieve greater transparency through innovative reporting and meet investors’ expectations.
Desmond comments: “Through the talent of our people, outstanding client service and innovation, Horseshoe continues to be the partner of choice for many hedge fund and private equity managers who are seeking solutions and added value. Clients are at the core of our business model. We build partnerships rather than relationships.”
“Upholding best practice is fundamental to us,” Desmond continues, “At Horseshoe, we continue to invest heavily in cutting edge proprietary and industry leading technologies, to produce highly integrated processing, state of the art investor reporting and delivery in a controls focused environment.
“We can see how Robotic Process Automation (RPA) and AI are altering the way we do business. We are embracing innovation so we are at the forefront of the fund administration industry and support our clients to achieve operational excellence and sustainable growth.
“Being nimble and entrepreneurial allows us to be quick in responding and flexible in accommodating the new developments and products that the fund management community devise and to meet the challenges of what is an increasingly competitive market environment.” n
Brian Desmond FCA
Chief Strategy Officer & EVP Head of Fund Services, Horseshoe
Brian Desmond leads the fund administration business and is heavily involved in strategic business initiatives. Brian is a seasoned practitioner and respected leader within the global fund administration community with over 27 years of successful experience. He was one of the founding principals of IKONIC, a specialist fund administration company which was acquired by Horseshoe in 2016.
