48 Acquisition International - Hedge Fund Awards 2017 Anchin, Block & Anchin Backbone Asset Management AG Best Hedge Fund Advisory Firm 2017 - North America Best Emerging Fixed Income FoHF: The Boring Fund SP Anchin, Block & Anchin Backbone Asset Management AG Anchin Block & Anchin LLP provides privately-held businesses and high net worth individuals with a wide range of traditional and non-traditional advisory services. We caught up with Partner Jeffrey Rosenthal to learn more about the firm and the range of services it offers. Backbone Asset Management is a niche Alternative Asset Management Company that allocates to Private Debt Strategies. We invited Partner Declan O’Brien to tell us more. Company: Anchin, Block & Anchin LLP Name: Jeffrey I. Rosenthal Email: Jeffrey.rosenthal@ anchin.com Web: www.anchin.com Address: 1375 Broadway, New York, NY 10018 Phone: 212-840-3456 Company: Backbone Asset Management Name: Declan O’Brien Email:
[email protected] Address: 28 Upper Pembroke Street, Dublin, Ireland HF170062 HF170046 Founded in 1923 in New York, Anchin is now recognized as a top-tier firm nationwide in terms of its quality, management, scope of services and work environment. Jeffrey outlines how the firm draws on this vast experience to provide the very best quality services to its clients. “For more than 40 years, Anchin has offered customized accounting, audit, tax and consulting services to our financial industry clientele. They range from small, entrepreneurial start-ups to established funds. Financial Services is one of Anchin’s largest industry practice groups, with a team of eight partners and nearly 50 dedicated professionals. Our years of experience, extensive network, and comprehensive institutional knowledge allow us to offer clients perspectives and insights on the direction of their businesses. “As we consider ourselves to be the alternative to the large firms, Anchin prides itself on customized service executed to meet the unique needs of each client. Our engagement partners are thoroughly familiar with the client´s business, the market environment in which they operate, and the unique features of its industry. By carefully selecting engagement teams to cater specifically to each client´s needs, we can conduct efficient and cost-effective audits, design and implement optimal tax positions, and provide valuable consulting assistance to management.” Established in 2015, Backbone Asset Management is an Independent Irish run and owned business targeting Pension Funds, Insurance Companies, Institutional Asset Managers, Family Offices and Wealth Management advisors as clients. By being a specialist Asset Manager and not a generalist the firm are able to focus purely on the Debt Sector. This market requires strong, proactive management, as Declan is keen to emphasise. “At Backbone Asset Management we spend a considerable amount of time engaging with the underling businesses we are invested in as well as conducting ongoing DD of new opportunities in our sector this is all done whilst conducting independent industry research and to this extent we have recently expanded our research and Management team for 2017. We also make sure our staff attends all the relevant industry related conferences that cover topics and information we believe would add value to our business and clients.” Operating in Ireland provides Backbone Asset Management with a number of great opportunities, as the countryis the largest domicile for Hedge Funds in Europe and over 40% of Global Hedge Funds are serviced in Ireland accounting for over $2 trillion of Assets. As global regulation and tax laws change Overall, this past year has been a challenging time for start-ups, especially with respect to raising capital, however Anchin have seen a growing trend in family offices establishing funds and investing on their own and in emerging managers, as well as a growth in the Private Equity sector as a whole. As such the firm’s focus will be firmly on growing this area of the business going forward, as Jeffrey concludes. “Here at Anchin we have seen significant growth in the Private Equity sector and with real estate funds and have thus expanded Anchin’s Private Equity Practice. Our Firm’s experts and thought leaders in the Private Equity space give us another avenue in which to assist our Financial Services clients. “With over 90 years of experience serving middle market companies, Anchin specializes in responding to the individual needs of private equity firms and portfolio companies. Our team of experienced professionals provides in-depth industry knowledge while recognizing that each transaction is unique. Our expertise in platform and roll-up investment strategies, financial and tax due diligence, business valuations, and IPO readiness are just a few of the Private Equity services available to our clients, and our team has the pertinent skills and expertise to help our clients succeed.” and ever-growing amount of Hedge Funds are now looking to Ireland. With the introduction of the ICAV (Irish Collective Asset-Management Vehicle) structure in 2015 this has created a very favourable structure for funds wanting to re-domicile to Ireland. The ICAV structure has already attracted a meaningful amount Assets in its short existence. In addition, the region has a strong, well educated workforce, as Declan explains. “The Irish workforce is highly educated and the infrastructure is of the highest standard. In light of Brexit we believe it will become an ever-increasing destination for Hedge Funds to re domicile and for more industry personnel to base themselves there making it an ideal destination to base ourselves.” Ultimately Backbone Asset Management is a very dynamic new and exciting Alternative Asset Management Company, looking to position itself as the world’s leading Debt Focused Asset Manager. As such its ongoing focus will remain on growth and expansion, as Declan concludes. “Overall the future for our firm is very exciting as we are expanding our Team and looking to add more strategies to our platform as the business evolves.”