custom house global fund services limited introduction and profile
custom house global fund services limited introduction and profile
custom house global fund services limited introduction and profile
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Amsterdam | Chicago | Dublin | Guernsey | Luxembourg | Malta | Singapore<br />
Round the world, round the clock <strong>fund</strong> administration<br />
CUSTOM HOUSE GLOBAL FUND SERVICES LIMITED<br />
INTRODUCTION AND PROFILE
Our clients come first<br />
Our business depends on our people<br />
Our knowledge is powerful<br />
Our reputation is everything<br />
2<br />
The Specialist Fund Specialist
HISTORY AND INTRODUCTION<br />
The Custom House Group of Companies was originally established in Irel<strong>and</strong> in 1989, offering a wide variety of<br />
financial <strong>services</strong> to its clients. After several metamorphoses, the group has now developed into a <strong>global</strong> hedge<br />
<strong>fund</strong> administration organisation <strong>and</strong> the parent company of the Custom House Group is based in Malta with subsidiary<br />
companies offering full administration <strong>services</strong> in Chicago, Dublin, Luxembourg <strong>and</strong> Singapore. Custom House<br />
also offers specialised <strong>fund</strong> administration <strong>and</strong> custodial <strong>services</strong> in the Netherl<strong>and</strong>s <strong>and</strong> has a Guernsey office for<br />
servicing Guernsey <strong>fund</strong> clients.<br />
In September 2008, the <strong>fund</strong> <strong>services</strong> business of Equity Trust (now TMF Group, following the recent merger) was<br />
merged into Custom House <strong>and</strong> reorganised under Custom House Global Fund Services Ltd. (“CHGFS”), the Malta<br />
based holding company for the Custom House Group of companies, which is also authorised as a Custodian for Funds<br />
of Hedge Funds <strong>and</strong> recognised as a hedge <strong>fund</strong> administrator by the Malta Financial Services Authority (“MFSA”).<br />
PROFILE<br />
The Custom House Group of Companies (“Custom House”) has several complementary businesses. The primary<br />
business is the provision of a full administration service to alternative investment <strong>fund</strong>s (including private equity,<br />
real estate <strong>and</strong> venture capital <strong>fund</strong>s), hedge <strong>fund</strong>s, managed accounts <strong>and</strong> daily dealing managed account platforms.<br />
The complementary businesses include the provision of Corporate Secretarial <strong>and</strong> Director <strong>services</strong> as well<br />
as acting as a licensed Custodian of Funds of Funds in Malta <strong>and</strong> similarly in the Netherl<strong>and</strong>s, where Custom House<br />
offers Bewaarder <strong>services</strong> to local Dutch clients. Custom House can service Guernsey <strong>fund</strong>s through its Guernsey<br />
office. Custom House can also assist clients in the design, organisation <strong>and</strong> establishment of <strong>custom</strong>ised offshore<br />
<strong>fund</strong>s if needed.<br />
Custom House offers a 24/5 <strong>global</strong> hedge <strong>fund</strong> administration service through its fully integrated network of offices<br />
in Chicago, Dublin, Luxembourg, Malta <strong>and</strong> Singapore.<br />
AUTHORISATION AND REGULATION<br />
CHGFS <strong>and</strong> its subsidiaries are fully regulated, as required, by the relevant authorities in their jurisdiction.<br />
Custom House is fully SAS70 compliant.<br />
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The Specialist Fund Specialist
BUSINESS<br />
Custom House <strong>fund</strong> manager or <strong>fund</strong> promoter clients are, for the most part, independent money managers, <strong>fund</strong><br />
of <strong>fund</strong> managers <strong>and</strong> family offices, as well as banks <strong>and</strong> institutions. Custom House provides clients with practical<br />
solutions to such problems as valuations for daily dealing hedge <strong>fund</strong>s <strong>and</strong> pricing hard to value OTC <strong>and</strong> other<br />
illiquid assets.<br />
Custom House specialises in alternative investment <strong>fund</strong>s <strong>and</strong>, indeed, describes itself as “The Specialist Fund<br />
Specialist”. As such, Custom House does not generally act for traditional or ‘vanilla’ <strong>fund</strong>s, rather concentrating<br />
on the ubiquitous alternative investment (including private equity, real estate, venture capital) <strong>and</strong> hedge <strong>fund</strong>s,<br />
which include many varied investment strategies, such as, inter alia: long-short equity, equity-option merger <strong>and</strong><br />
convertible arbitrage, high yield bonds, emerging markets, currencies, futures <strong>and</strong> derivatives, as well as <strong>fund</strong>s of<br />
<strong>fund</strong>s <strong>and</strong> other multi-advisor products.<br />
The full 24/5 “round the world”, “round the clock” administration service covers all aspects of day to day operations,<br />
including maintaining a <strong>fund</strong>’s books <strong>and</strong> records, carrying out valuations, calculating the NAV <strong>and</strong> h<strong>and</strong>ling<br />
all subscriptions <strong>and</strong> redemptions, as well as overseeing payment of a <strong>fund</strong>’s expenses.<br />
SYSTEMS<br />
Custom House uses the PFS-PAXUS (“PAXUS”) fully integrated <strong>fund</strong> administration system, which incorporates the<br />
automatic calculation of fees, including equalisation. PAXUS, which eliminates the “error-zones” inherent in multiple<br />
modular component administration systems, is the core contributor to Custom House’s efficiency <strong>and</strong> enables<br />
Custom House to currently produce over 200 daily dealing NAVs for a broad range of <strong>fund</strong>s. Custom House is able<br />
to do this because of its ability to “roll” the <strong>fund</strong>’s books from one regional office to the next, taking advantage<br />
of the same single integrated system, which serves all offices <strong>and</strong> the time differences between those offices. We<br />
believe Custom House is unique this regard.<br />
Reporting <strong>and</strong> dealing can be effected through CHARIOT, Custom House’s secure password protected web-reporting<br />
<strong>and</strong> dealing platforms for managers <strong>and</strong> investors, which ensure greater efficiencies <strong>and</strong> reduces errors (see below<br />
for more details).<br />
PHILOSOPHY<br />
As at 30th June 2011, CHGFS administered 540 <strong>fund</strong>s <strong>and</strong> sub-<strong>fund</strong>s for more than 200 investment clients, with<br />
total assets under administration of approximately US$49 billion in <strong>fund</strong>s ranging in size from a few million US Dollars<br />
at launch to several billion US Dollars. This reflects Custom House’s commitment to working, not only with<br />
institutions, but also with emerging, or newly independent money managers, whose <strong>custom</strong>ised <strong>fund</strong>s, inevitably,<br />
start out quite small. The Custom House philosophy <strong>and</strong> objective is that Custom House should grow with those<br />
managers, <strong>and</strong> their <strong>fund</strong>s, thus demonstrating its long-term commitment to its clients.<br />
GLOBAL FOOTPRINT<br />
Custom House has offices, in Dublin, Chicago, Singapore, Malta, Luxembourg, The Netherl<strong>and</strong>s <strong>and</strong> Guernsey. The<br />
Custom House week effectively starts at midnight Sunday GMT, when Singapore opens on their Monday morning <strong>and</strong><br />
closes at midnight Friday GMT, when Chicago goes home at the end of their working week. This gives the company<br />
a truly <strong>global</strong> footprint with the ability to offer a 24/5 service for clients needing the facility.<br />
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The Specialist Fund Specialist
FUND ADMINISTRATION SERVICE<br />
Custom House offers a full alternative investment or hedge <strong>fund</strong> administration service to many <strong>fund</strong>s investing in<br />
a wide variety of strategies.<br />
Once the <strong>fund</strong> has been established, Custom House will act as administrator to the <strong>fund</strong>, overseeing the day to day<br />
operations <strong>and</strong> liaising between the Investment Manager <strong>and</strong>/or Investment Advisor(s), Broker(s), Custodian <strong>and</strong><br />
Payment Bank, Auditor, Regulatory Authorities <strong>and</strong>, if listed, the relevant Stock Exchange authorities.<br />
Of course, Custom House is also happy to act for <strong>fund</strong>s that wish to change their existing administrator for whatever<br />
reason.<br />
Custom House will carry out the valuation of the <strong>fund</strong>, calculating the NAV of the <strong>fund</strong> <strong>and</strong> the NAV per share on a<br />
daily, weekly or monthly basis, or other frequency, for private equity, real estate <strong>and</strong> other closed end <strong>fund</strong>s, as<br />
required. Custom House will independently verify the transactions, prices traded <strong>and</strong> current prices/valuations. If<br />
at all possible, prices of assets will be obtained from independent sources, or, if that is not possible, from the counterparty<br />
or the Manager, in accordance with the Offering Memor<strong>and</strong>um, Memor<strong>and</strong>um <strong>and</strong> Articles of Association,<br />
<strong>and</strong> the Pricing Policy. Custom House will also h<strong>and</strong>le subscriptions <strong>and</strong> redemptions, verify fees <strong>and</strong> commissions<br />
due to the various service providers <strong>and</strong> authorise all payments to be made by the relevant Custodian, Trustee or<br />
Payment Bank. Custom House will arrange for the <strong>fund</strong>’s NAV share <strong>and</strong> share unit or price to be published in the<br />
media, if required. Custom House will also maintain all of the books, records <strong>and</strong> accounts of the <strong>fund</strong> <strong>and</strong> prepare<br />
the audit file for the Auditor.<br />
REGISTRAR & TRANSFER AGENCY SERVICES<br />
Custom House provides Registrar <strong>and</strong> Transfer Agency Services <strong>and</strong> maintains a copy of the share register <strong>and</strong> monitors<br />
the issuance, redemption <strong>and</strong> transfer of shares by shareholders <strong>and</strong> will liaise promptly with all prospective<br />
<strong>and</strong> existing shareholders, distributing offering documents, reports <strong>and</strong> financial statements as required by the<br />
<strong>fund</strong> <strong>and</strong> the Investors.<br />
ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING<br />
In carrying out its obligations as Administrator, Registrar <strong>and</strong> Transfer Agent, Custom House will ensure that its <strong>fund</strong><br />
clients will comply with all appropriate anti-money laundering regulations.<br />
COMPANY SECRETARIAL SERVICES<br />
Custom House will act as Company Secretary <strong>and</strong>, as such, be responsible for maintaining all statutory books <strong>and</strong><br />
records of the Company, including maintenance of the Board of Directors Minute book, as well as organising <strong>and</strong><br />
arranging Board <strong>and</strong> Shareholder meetings <strong>and</strong> the Annual General Meeting, as well as arranging the opening of<br />
new brokerage <strong>and</strong> bank accounts, if required. As Company Secretary, Custom House will also oversee the filing<br />
of annual returns <strong>and</strong>, if listed, ensure compliance with the ongoing obligations of the relevant Stock Exchange.<br />
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS<br />
As a result of Sarbanes Oxley, auditors will no longer produce the financial statements, either for the Annual Audited<br />
Accounts or the Interim Accounts. Accordingly, Custom House will make arrangements for these to be produced<br />
for <strong>fund</strong> clients.<br />
5<br />
The Specialist Fund Specialist
FUND ADVISORY SERVICE<br />
Custom House offers a Fund Advisory Service, which has been designed to achieve four primary objectives.<br />
• To help establish a <strong>fund</strong> that meets the client’s objectives;<br />
• To eliminate the problems that Clients may have when trying to establish their own specialist offshore <strong>fund</strong>;<br />
• To ensure that the <strong>fund</strong> is set up at an acceptable cost; <strong>and</strong><br />
• To do this as quickly <strong>and</strong> efficiently as possible.<br />
Please note that Custom House will not provide this service if the client has already approached or engaged a<br />
lawyer or other professional adviser to assist in the establishment of their <strong>fund</strong>, because having two advisers can,<br />
apart from causing dissention, often increase costs whilst failing to add value.<br />
PERSONAL SERVICE<br />
It has always been Custom House’s objective to provide a comprehensive personalised administration service to<br />
all of its clients. As such, Custom House was delighted to have been selected by the judges of the HFMWeek 2010<br />
European Hedge Fund Services Awards, as “Best Administrator – Client Service” because of, as the judges put it,<br />
Custom House’s “Efficiency, professionalism <strong>and</strong> friendliness”.<br />
In May 2011, Custom House, for the second year running, was selected as “Best Administrator Over $30bn – Client<br />
Service” at the HFM 2011 European Hedge Fund Services Awards, where the judges described it as “a remarkable<br />
firm. Few others in this space are able to demonstrate this level of technical aptitude, while also providing the<br />
<strong>custom</strong>er with a bespoke <strong>and</strong> extremely client focussed service”.<br />
Since 1989, Custom House has built an integrated <strong>global</strong> <strong>fund</strong> administration service based on personal commitment<br />
<strong>and</strong> relationships:<br />
• Clients are recognised as individuals, not account numbers<br />
• Clients know they can directly call anyone in senior management, including the Group CEO <strong>and</strong> Group Chairman<br />
• Custom House’s secure, user-friendly web reporting platform - CHARIOT - has been well received by clients,<br />
who can access their account details at any time of the day or night<br />
• Custom House is open 24/5. From Dublin, to Chicago, to Singapore, the day never ends for Custom House or<br />
its clients<br />
• Custom House has a staff dedicated to professional <strong>and</strong> personal service<br />
Custom House’s administration department utilises a team structure, whereby one individual is appointed as the<br />
dedicated administrator of each <strong>fund</strong>, thus providing each client with a named individual – someone whom they can<br />
contact directly <strong>and</strong> with whom the client can develop a close co-operative working relationship. That individual<br />
administrator, who has a reporting line up to the Manager of the Administration Department, is a member of a<br />
team, which provides the back up in the case of illness or vacations.<br />
CHARIOT<br />
Custom House offers its clients “CHARIOT,” the Custom House Accessible Reporting In Open Technology secure<br />
Web reporting platform. CHARIOT provides Investors access to their own account details – latest performance <strong>and</strong><br />
historic confirmation notes – as well as any other information that the Manager wishes to disclose, depending upon<br />
their appetite for transparency. For their part, Managers can review numerous different reports, including, inter<br />
alia, the P&L, Balance Sheet, <strong>and</strong> Shareholder Register <strong>and</strong> can drill down through upwards of sixty other reports<br />
to view more detailed information.<br />
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The Specialist Fund Specialist
OUTSOURCED SERVICES<br />
Often, Custom House will be required to outsource certain functions, such as pricing <strong>and</strong> risk analysis, as described<br />
below. Custom House will provide data <strong>and</strong> information feeds to the outsourced service provider, to help facilitate<br />
their operations <strong>and</strong> to enable them to download their reports, prices or other data back to the <strong>fund</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>fund</strong><br />
manager, through Custom House.<br />
Pricing<br />
For the more esoteric OTC derivative products, some <strong>fund</strong>s will delegate the pricing function to specialist pricing<br />
vendors. Custom House has, or will, prepare interfaces with these vendors so that they can feed the necessary<br />
information to the vendors <strong>and</strong> download the prices provided by the vendors for inclusion in the preparation of<br />
the NAVs.<br />
Risk Management/Analysis<br />
Some <strong>fund</strong>s retain outside companies to carry out a risk analysis of the portfolio on a daily, weekly or monthly basis.<br />
Custom House will provide the data to the service provider <strong>and</strong> download the results, which can also be fed to the<br />
investment manager.<br />
Other Services<br />
Custom House will feed data to other service providers – such as companies that provide performance reporting<br />
tools.<br />
JURISDICTIONS AND PRODUCTS<br />
Custom House offices will act as Administrator of <strong>fund</strong>s established in most, if not all, of the recognised offshore<br />
<strong>and</strong> onshore financial centres.<br />
Fund Products - Type<br />
Fund Products - Structure<br />
Products - Dealing<br />
• Open End Funds<br />
• Closed End Funds<br />
• Funds of Funds<br />
• Private Equity Funds<br />
• Real Estate Funds<br />
• Professional Investor Funds<br />
• Exempt Funds<br />
• UCITS<br />
• Capital Protected Funds<br />
• Shariah Compliant Funds<br />
• Investment Companies<br />
• Limited Partnerships<br />
• SICAVs<br />
• Unit Trusts<br />
• Segregated Cell Companies<br />
• Umbrella Funds<br />
• Master Feeder Funds<br />
• Funds using SPVs<br />
(for example, to ring-fence collateral risk or<br />
to avail of double taxation treaties)<br />
• Daily<br />
• Weekly<br />
• Bi-Weekly<br />
• Monthly<br />
• Semi-Annually<br />
• Annually<br />
AWARDS<br />
• HFMWeek European Hedge Fund Services Awards 2011 – “Best Administrator over US$30bn: Client Services” – May 2011<br />
• Hedgeweek Awards 2011 – “Best Asian Hedge Fund Administrator” – March 2011<br />
• HFMWeek US Service Provider Awards 2010 – “Best US Fund Administrator for Small <strong>and</strong> Start-up Hedge Funds” – October 2010<br />
• FundDomiciles.com Awards 2011 – “Best Fund Administrator in Malta” – January 2011<br />
• ICFA European Awards 2010 – “Fund Administrator of the Year: Malta” – November 2010<br />
• Corporate INTL Magazine Global Awards 2010 – “Fund Services Firm of the Year/Irel<strong>and</strong>” – June 2010<br />
• HFMWeek European Hedge Fund Services Awards 2010 – “Best Fund Administrator – Client Services” – March 2010<br />
• FundDomiciles.com Awards 2010 – “Best Fund Administrator in Malta” – January 2010<br />
• HFMWeek Service Provider Awards 2009 – “Best Small Hedge Fund Administrator” – October 2009<br />
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The Specialist Fund Specialist
CUSTOM HOUSE GROUP CONTACTS<br />
Chairman: Dermot S. L. Butler dermot.butler@<strong>custom</strong><strong>house</strong>group.com<br />
CEO: David P. M. Blair david.blair@<strong>custom</strong><strong>house</strong>group.com<br />
COO: Mark Hedderman mark.hedderman@<strong>custom</strong><strong>house</strong>group.com<br />
SALES CONTACTS<br />
Europe & MENA: David Barry david.barry@<strong>custom</strong><strong>house</strong>group.com<br />
The Americas: Scott Price scott.price@us.<strong>custom</strong><strong>house</strong>group.com<br />
SE Asia & Australia: Ralph Chicktong ralph.chicktong@sg.<strong>custom</strong><strong>house</strong>group.com<br />
www.<strong>custom</strong><strong>house</strong>group.com<br />
GROUP OFFICES<br />
Custom House Global Fund Services Ltd. (Active Administration <strong>and</strong> Parent Holding Company)<br />
Tigne Towers | Tigne Street | Sliema | SLM 3172 | Malta<br />
Kevin Caruana | kevin.caruana@mt.<strong>custom</strong><strong>house</strong>group.com | T +356 2258 2100<br />
Custom House Fund Services (Chicago) LLC<br />
314 W. Superior Suite 600 | Chicago | IL 60654 | USA<br />
Scott Price | scott.price@us.<strong>custom</strong><strong>house</strong>group.com | T +1 312 280 0330<br />
Custom House Fund Services (Irel<strong>and</strong>) Ltd.<br />
25 Eden Quay | Dublin 1 | Irel<strong>and</strong><br />
Micheál McGreal | micheal.mcgreal@<strong>custom</strong><strong>house</strong>group.com | T +353 1 878 0807<br />
Custom House Fund Services (Guernsey) Ltd.<br />
PO Box 282 | Regency Court | Glategny Esplanade | St. Peter Port | Guernsey | GY1 3RH<br />
Ray Page | ray.page@gg.<strong>custom</strong><strong>house</strong>group.com | T +44 1481 737 916<br />
Custom House Fund Services (Luxembourg) S.A.<br />
Unico Building – 1st Floor | 13 rue Edward Steichen | L-2540 Luxembourg<br />
Claude Mermans | claude.mermans@lu.<strong>custom</strong><strong>house</strong>group.com | T +352 22 94 44-1<br />
Custom House Fund Services (Netherl<strong>and</strong>s) BV<br />
Strawinskylaan 3105, 1077 ZX Amsterdam | PO Box 71744 | 1008 DE Amsterdam | The Netherl<strong>and</strong>s<br />
Robert Vennegoor | robert.vennegoor@nl.<strong>custom</strong><strong>house</strong>group.com | T +31 20 406 4444<br />
Custom House Fund Services (Singapore) Pte. Ltd.<br />
180B Bencoolen Street | #09-03 The Bencoolen | Singapore 189648<br />
Ralph Chicktong | ralph.chicktong@sg.<strong>custom</strong><strong>house</strong>group.com | T +65 6303 8393
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