AI Fund Awards 2017

Acquisition International - International Fund Awards 2017 13 HedgEmerge “Our business is differentiated from our peer group in a number of ways. The most obvious differentiator is the fact that we do not pay or receive Management Fees. This is a defining feature of the business; alignment of the incentives of the Emerging manager with those of the investor. This leads on to another defining feature of HedgEmerge, which is the use of a small degree of leverage in order to create the returns required to compensate the three parties; Emerging manager, Investor, HedgEmerge. This boosts the return on the diversified portfolio. “Having a degree of leverage being utilised by the managers requires stricter risk management techniques especially with underperforming managers. Our reallocation strategy ensures that leverage is removed from underperforming managers to reduce the prospect of capital loss. The fact that leverage is applied at the portfolio level at HedgEmerge means that we have an inherently less risky and less volatile product compared to a similar sized investment in a highly leveraged single fund, such as a CTA Fund. Operating in the Emerging manager niche is also a defining characteristic of our fund. Emerging Managers are efficient at deploying capital, are incentivised to perform, are nimbler in the markets and sometimes can take advantage of trading opportunities which do not exist for larger players.” Looking to the future, Quinton and his team have identified a number of exciting growth opportunities which he is keen to outline. Moving forward, we see a number of variants of the same strategy as possible avenues of growth. From our current starting point, we can see that some investors would want access to the strategy in a local sense, i.e. perhaps an Asian or European variant, or alternatively they would want access to managers in a slightly different “Emerging” band. Perhaps AUM’s of 100m – 250m. For some investors, less leverage might be more attractive, and therefore we are exploring various possibilities for growth and new products. “Within the wider market we see pressure on two aspects of fund management, underperformance and fees. Typically, large bloated managers are being scrutinized on both issues and it is hard to justify high fixed costs, such as management fees, in periods of poor returns. It is also hard to strip out bloated cost bases. With the redemptions we have seen across the industry in the second half of 2016 we recognise that this has created two opportunities. Firstly, it has shone the spotlight on Alternatives and secondly it will create a new crop of Emerging Managers in 12-18 months’ time, as those ex-managers are now looking for their next project. “Overall, there are numerous ways to expand the business and we’re looking forward to exploring these in the future. Best Fund Administration Software Vendor 2017 Pacific Fund Systems Limited Pacific Fund Systems (PFS) has been supporting the investment fund accounting and fund administration industry for over 17 years via its core PFS-PAXUS product. We profile the firm and explore the secrets behind its success. Company: Pacific Fund Systems Limited Name: Kelly Ashe (Sales and Marketing Manager) Email: information@ pacificfundsystems.com Web: www.pacificfundsystems.com Address: Island House, Isle of Man Business Park, Douglas, Isle of Man, IM2 2QZ Telephone: +44 (0) 1624 632772 IF17016 Since its inception in 1999 PFS has gone from strength to strength with continual year-on-year growth. This success can be attributed to its award winning PFS-PAXUS system, a specialist investment accounting and fund administration software. The system fully supports the NAV calculation and shareholder servicing administration for all types of traditional and alternative funds, including retail funds, hedge funds, private equity, and managed account investment vehicles. PFS software has completely re- engineered the work processes of fund administrators by replacing multiple legacy systems with one innovative integrated solution with customer web access built into its core. Throughout its history the firm has always had a global approach to its business; PFS-PAXUS software is in operation in 70+ separate database installations across the globe, with thousands of funds being administered and audited on PFS-PAXUS annually. Clients range from single office fund administration firms to major fund administration service providers who commonly have thousands of staff globally. PFS’ innovative solutions are provided to leading fund administrators seeking the technical and servicing competencies to keep customers satisfied today and into the future. Although the firm’s client base is spread across the globe, they are all connected by the growth and success of their operations thanks to the support and solutions provided by PFS. PFS’ product offering is complemented by a highly skilled and knowledgeable team, who each have extensive knowledge gained from many years’ experience of fund administration operations. This exceptionally strong combination of award-winning products alongside exceptional support allows PFS to deliver an innovative and Pacific Fund Systems Limited