Unveiling our Emerging Managers Insight Article Series

The start-up environment for hedge fund firms continues to evolve as managers face changing investor and regulator expectations, increased due diligence, new investment opportunities and advancing technology innovations.

To help firms navigate the new launch environment, Eze Castle Integration is excited to launch our Emerging Managers Insight Article Series today. The Series, created for emerging hedge fund managers, brings together expert guidance from industry insiders across prime brokerage, legal and compliance, technology and fund management.

Contributors to the Series include senior leaders at Eze Castle Integration, Jefferies & Company, Rothstein Kass, and Tannenbaum Helpern Syracuse & Hirschtritt LLP.

Here is a sneak peak of some of the articles we will publish each Tuesday and Thursday starting this week:

“The Prime Brokerage Perspective for Emerging Managers,” Jefferies & Company’s Glen Dailey

Excerpt: Someone starting a fund should set a realistic schedule to launch and not rush to get the fund up and running too quickly. Take the time to partner with the right service providers that will support your business from the start and be there as you grow. Have a plan going into your new venture which should include lining up friends and family as day one investors as well as reaching out to other investors to start a pipeline before you actually launch the fund. Once you are under way, you will end up getting tied to your screens, focused on performing and time for marketing becomes scarce.
 

“Should I Go With the Flow Into Liquid Alts? Critical Questions for Alternative Managers Weighing a Move Into the Retail Space,” Rothstein Kass’ Frank Attalla, CPA, and Marc J. Wolf, CPA

Excerpt: As regulatory requirements become more complex and onerous in the alternative investment space, there is clearly an evolution taking place in the market. There is an ongoing trend toward adding registered or retail products among many hedge fund managers. They are seeking new structures to bring their strategies to market while putting themselves in the best position to tap retail investors and wealth advisors in the new competitive landscape.
 
To help managers make more informed decisions in the new liquid alternatives reality, Rothstein Kass has compiled a set of important questions managers must ask themselves, and other critical considerations that should be part of their decision-making process.
 

“A Look at the SEC’s National Exam Program 2014 Priority: Assessing Never-Examined SEC-Registered Investment Advisers,” Tannenbaum Helpern Syracuse & Hirschtritt’s Shelley Rosensweig and Beth Smigel

Excerpt: On January 9, 2014, the Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (“OCIE”) of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) published its 2014 examination priorities for its National Exam Program (“NEP”). While the examination priorities include multiple areas that OCIE believes are higher-risk areas of the business and operations of investment advisers, this article focuses on the NEP’s initiative (the “Initiative”) to conduct focused, risk-based examinations of investment advisers who have been registered with the SEC for at least three (3) years (including non-U.S. advisers) but have not yet been examined by the NEP and are not subject to the “Presence Exam” initiative discussed herein (“Covered Advisers”). 

“A Hedge Fund's Guide to Critical Technology Decisions: From Cloud and Infrastructure to Disaster Recovery and Security,” Eze Castle Integration

Today’s hedge fund investors grew up with technology and as a result are asking much more detailed questions. So what are the perfect answers? The reality is that there isn’t one perfect answer that is right for every firm. More than looking for a specific answer, investors want to see that your answer is well thought out and logically addresses your specific fund operations. This article will look at investor expectations of IT, on-premise and cloud solutions, security risks and best practices and disaster recovery how-tos.

Read our first article, “The Prime Brokerage Perspective for Emerging Managers.”