Proxy advisory firms are supposed to help fund managers decide how to vote their shares in annual or other corporate meetings and even cast votes for them. But that doesn’t mean fund managers should just let them do all the work and forget about it. Apparently that’s what the US Securities and Exchange Commission thinks […]
Countdown to AIFMD: Addressing the New Risk Management Landscape
With the deadline for fund managers to apply for regulatory recognition as alternative investment fund managers (AIFMs) less than a week away, one would think they have already crossed their T’s and dotted their I’s when it comes to being prepared. But that’s not the case for many, according to industry research. Surprisingly, most small […]
Collateral Management: Is Access Really King?
When it comes to managing collateral, fund managers can just forget about all the doomsday talk of a shortfall. There is enough to go around — and to fulfill a multitude of regulatory requirements — if only it could be easier to access it. Or so says a new study supported by the US Depository […]
IBOR: Navigating the Options for a Dream Position Engine
As fund managers struggle to increase their investment returns, reduce their costs, and satisfy growing regulatory demands they are quickly embracing an old concept — data management — albeit with a new twist. Implementing the so-called investment book of record, or IBOR for short, has become a de facto requirement for fund managers who need […]
Outsourcing: Three Steps to Preparing for a Possible Exit
If the experience of outsourcing operations or IT infrastructure is something like being married to the third-party service provider, ending that relationship can be just as painful and messy as a divorce. Fund management executives shouldn’t assume their outsourcing relationships are going to last forever or even to the end of the agreed upon timetable […]
Mind the Gap: Brokers Address US-European Settlement Discrepancy
Europe’s move to a two-day settlement cycle in October will cause a lot more stress for broker-dealers than just trying to communicate with their fund managers more quickly. The reason: their clients among US asset managers may have difficulty funding more of their purchases of European securities in at least ten European markets come October 6. From that […]
AIFMD and UCITS V: Custodians Under the Gun to Monitor Subcustodians
Global custodians always claimed to be selective about who they did business with. After all, billions if not trillions of dollars worth of client assets are at stake. Well now they have to be even more cautious about who they have selected as their subcustodians or local agent banks across the globe, and many are […]
Automating Corporate Actions: Four Ways to Generate Successful ROI
Automating the handling of corporate actions should be a given, considering the financial risk fund managers, broker-dealers and banks face if they make just one mistake. Apparently that’s not necessarily so. The reason: justifying the expense to C-level management isn’t as easy as it sounds, despite the need for automation being greater than ever before. […]
Collateral Management: Shifting from Cost to Profit Center
Once considered a dreary administrative task, collateral management is moving to high visibility for fund management shops, forced by new regulations to rethink their the use of the assets that back numerous transactions. Now a target for cost control with the ultimate goal of wringing revenue out of it, collateral management is coming out of the back room. “Depending on the types of […]
FATCA Responsible Officers: Be Careful, Very Careful
You’ve just been named by your financial firm as a responsible officer under the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, or FATCA for short. Should you hand in your two-week notice, take the job in stride, or brace– and protect yourself — from hefty operational and legal liabilities? Those are the decisions and options now faced by potential FROs, or thousands of […]