• Fund Governance Trends

15 February 2022

2021 Industry Data With a Special Report on Governance For Digital Assets Funds

• Fund Governance Trends

11 February 2021

2020 Industry Data and Recommended Best Practices

• Has fund governance improved since the financial crisis?

21 May 2020

The 2008 financial crisis revealed many corporate governance deficiencies at alternative funds. Twelve years on, Covid-19 is causing a different set of challenges. Bill Prew, CEO of independent depositary INDOS Financial, assesses whether governance practices in the industry have improved and if investors’ interests are now being better safeguarded.

• Fund Governance Trends

11 February 2020

2019 Industry Data and Recommended Best Practices

• Beach Boards: Platinum Fraud Charges Reignite Cayman Concerns

12 December 2019

Criminal charges against top executives of Platinum Partners for running the $1.4 billion hedge fund firm “like a Ponzi scheme” have revived an old question for investors: Where was the board?

• Fund Governance Trends

8 February 2019

2018 Industry Data and Recommended Best Practices

• Cayman Islands: Understanding The Role And Duties Of Hedge Fund Directors

31 August 2017

The Cayman Islands is the world's top hedge funds domicile, with more than 10,500 registered funds to date.
In this article, Appleby partner Alex Brainis discusses the quality of governance on Cayman Islands hedge fund boards in recent years. He also touches on oversight, the duties directors owe to both funds and managers, decision-making models for boards and the regulatory standards applicable to hedge fund directors.

• The IMDDA Announces New Faculty Members

18 July 2017

NEW YORK, LONDON, July 18, 2017 – The Investment Management Due Diligence Association (IMDDA,) the only independent global organization focused on investment management and operational due diligence, today announced the appointment of two new faculty members to augment its robust team of industry experts. Vincent Molino and Marc Towers, both veteran Due Diligence Professionals, will lead the IMDDA’s upcoming in-person educational programs taking place in New York, London, and Singapore.

• PRISM INSIGHTS: PRIVATE FUND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE (THE BOARD)

4 June 2017

An overview of hedge fund and private equity fund corporate governance, and today’s board of directors’ architecture.

• The Essential Guide to Third-Party Valuations for Hedge Fund Investors

May 2017

Huge losses suffered by investors in alternative assets during the financial crisis have pushed to the forefront a previously opaque part of the investment universe: the valuation of complex and illiquid assets held by hedge funds. This paper explores the challenges of pricing less-liquid or illiquid assets, which typically carry the most valuation risk.

• How to carry out platform due diligence

23 May 2017

Platforms are now so central to the vast majority of adviser firms, in all their glorious diversity, that it can be hard to separate out questions of platform due diligence from discussions about independence, investment management and service propositions.

• Investment fund governance survey report

May 2017

Although fund governance rarely hits the headlines, it is now receiving more attention due to the Financial Conduct Authority review of the asset management market. The survey suggests that the majority of investment funds used by UK pension schemes lack any independent governance arrangements.

• The Corporate Governance Issue

19 May 2017

When a hedge fund is revealed as fraudulent, or suffers a serious operational failure, many institutions will immediately scrutinize the corporate governance structure. Usually, weaknesses in this area are not difficult to miss and common failings may include conflict of interest such as familial relations sitting on the board, or a demonstrably under-skilled and inexperienced individual acting in a directorship capacity. Nowhere was this better illustrated than in the collapse of the Weavering Capital hedge fund in 2009.

• Platinum fraud charges shine light on Cayman director responsibilities

30 March 2017

The practice of using independent hired foreign directors has increased significantly since the 2008 financial crisis, in an attempt by managers to shield personal liability. However, it has raised concerns that some independent directors hold so many board seats that they lack the requisite time to effectively fulfill their obligations. A relative handful of Cayman "jumbo directors" are sitting on the boards of hundreds of hedge funds.

• Beach boards: Platinum fraud charges reignite Cayman concerns

24 February 2017

Platinum Partners Saga Reignites Concerns About Cayman 'Beach Boards'

• U.S. Charges Hong Kong Fund Exec With Fraud In Comcast-DreamWorks Insider Trading Probe

12 February 2017

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said Friday it obtained an emergency court order freezing brokerage accounts holding more than $29 million of profits gained from insider trading in advance of the April 2016 acquisition of DreamWorks Animation by Comcast.

• The Growing Importance of Independent Boards

January 2017

Maree Martin discusses the general trend towards the increased usage of independent directors, confirming that fund boards are not only becoming comprised of majority independent directors but that a more recent trend is the use of split independent boards.

• SFC proposals “may drive” fund launches to Singapore

18 November 2016

More industry experts are voicing concerns about Hong Kong’s planned fund manager conduct rules, saying the city risks losing business to its main rival.

• Quant hedge funds boom in Asia as investors crave better returns

18 November 2016

More Asian hedge funds are starting computer-driven strategies, as investors disappointed by the poor performance of some traditional funds search for better returns.

• Eisman of ‘Big Short’ Sees Massive Changes for Hedge Funds

2 November 2016

Steve Eisman, a fund manager at Neuberger Berman Group who was profiled in “The Big Short,” says Europe still faces the risk of a financial crisis like the one portrayed in the book while the probability of such an event in the U.S. is very low.

• Weavering Litigation - Cayman Hedge Fund Directors’ Duties and Indemnity/Exculpation Clauses Back in the Spotlight

1 June 2015

On 12 February 2015, the Cayman Islands Court of Appeal issued its much anticipated decision in Weavering Macro Fixed Income Fund Limited (In liquidation) (the “Fund”) vs Stefan Peterson and Hans Ekstrom (the “Directors”). The appellate Court’s decision - which held that the Directors had not acted with wilful neglect or default - now stands as the leading Cayman Islands authority on the high-level supervisory duties of Cayman investment fund directors, and on the meaning and effect of ‘wilful neglect or default’ in the context of exculpation and indemnity provisions.