Wealth & Finance Fund Awards 2015 48 Fundadministration, Inc. Best Hedge Fund Administrator Not just a service provider, Fundadministration acts as a service partner to the finance industry. We spoke to Denise DePaola, Chief Executive Officer at the company, and Nick Neri, Chief Operating Officer, to find out more. Company: Fundadministration, Inc Address: 4175 Veterans Memorial Hwy., Suite 204, Ronkonkoma, New York 11779 Telephone: (631) 737-4500 Fax: (631) 737-4513 Email:
[email protected] Web: www.fundadministration.com Fundadministration was founded in 1999, and is a premier fund administrator. They have clients in the United States of America and across the world. Furthermore, they have a group of seasoned and trained professionals, where everybody within the company has on average 20 years industry experience and has been with the firm over 7 years. “I would say that the key thing behind our company is our people, and our technology,” says DePaola. “Our technology is very sophisticated, as we have a fully integrated platform where we can handle front, mid- dle and back office functions for our clients in a single system, so we’re not welding different platforms together. As a result, we can turn things around pretty quickly, and it helps that we have no turnover of staff.” With the level of experience and expertise at the firm, this allows the company to provide a diverse range of services for their clients. “We not only service different structures but all different types of asset classes as well,” explains DePaola. “Many of the fund administrators you find are good at long/short equities or something specific, but we’re good at almost everything. Our greatest area of expertise is foreign exchange, commodities, futures, and we are also getting into different asset classes like FinTech funds, credit funds, bond funds, fixed income and many more. Other firms might shy away from these asset classes, but we have no problem handling any of them.” “Although there’s nobody at our firm that knows absolutely everything, within our team there will be someone who will know what is required. With my auditing background, I know what the auditors are looking for, how to value things and simply know what’s acceptable and what is not. So when we’re bringing on engagements, I know the risks in- volved already by way of my background, where other firms might not, and would be afraid of what they’re getting involved with.” Alongside their high level of expertise, the structure of the firm is something that really benefits their clients. “In being privately owned, there’s not a lot of layers of complexity and therefore we‘re able to service our clients much better than anyone else,” says DePaola. “If you deal with a big firm, there’s a department for this, a department for that, and the person who brought your account in never sees you again.” “We are so closely knit that it does not take three days to get our clients an answer because we don t have to go through four levels of leadership to get them a response. If someone says that their fund is not doing so well, or the fees are too much and they need to regroup, I can make that decision right there and then on the phone. We can do these type of things without it being a big ordeal.” Another differentiating factor is the flexibility of the firm, which Neri be- lieves allows them to maneuver more quickly when needed. “We can be exceptionally nimble, so when adjustments or changes need to be made, and when we have conversations with our investment manag- ers, we’re able to implement changes very quickly.” Fundadministration believes that this award is a testament to the success they have built and maintained over the past decade, and will drive them onto even greater heights in the future. “It’s a great accom- plishment,” says Neri. “It really talks about what we’ve done over the past several years to get to this point, and being able to provide and source not only outstanding associates, but to train them appropriately and provide world class service regardless of our size and the scope of the engagement.” Speaking about the award, DePaola added: “For me, I spent the last ten years building this brand and we finally feel like we’re accom- plished and we’re where we want to be. We have the technology, we have the people and we have the infrastructure. As a result, people are recognizing us and acknowledging our success, and this is something that makes us feel really good.”