Fund Services Annual 2022 | Page 78

[ S U R V E Y | H E D G E F U N D A D M I N I S T R A T I O N ]

NAVIGATING THE RAPIDS

Faced with pressure from managers to help them adapt to a challenging and fast-moving climate , hedge fund administrators have rallied to the task .

Over the past year , hedge fund administrators have had to deal with the daunting challenges facing their common clients , driven by factors well-rehearsed elsewhere in this issue of Global Custodian . “ Performance and complexity challenges are still very real for a hedge fund ,” says BNP Paribas . “ Continued pressure on asset class diversification and growing demands from Investors and regulators has led to operational pressure for the hedge fund .” Apex points out that , “ The regulatory landscape is continually evolving and regulations that may impact hedge fund strategies will be a key focus point , such as short-selling regulations , MIFIR , MIFID and wider EU regulatory reforms , coupled with diverging regulations across the US and APAC . Navigating global regulations will continue to impact strategies .”

Managers are also increasingly under pressure to incorporate ESG into their decision-making , leading to increased data demands on their service providers . Add to that , the challenge of finding and retaining talent in the post-pandemic hybrid work environment , which , says Opus , has shifted employee expectations . “ Those that have failed to adapt have been greatly impacted by ‘ the great resignation ’, the firm suggests . “ High employee turnover and a corresponding decline in service has been a common theme from managers looking to move their fund administration to Opus from their existing providers .” Judging by the results of the survey , clients are on the whole pleased with the way their providers have risen to the occasion . Global average category scores are all above 6.00 with the inevitable exception of Pricing . Client Service remains in the top three categories overall .
Categories
Global Average ( Unweighted )
Global Average ( Weighted )
Difference
Fund Accounting
6.36
6.39
0.03
Reporting to Auditors
6.33
6.33
0.00
Client Service
6.26
6.29
0.03
Reporting to the Manager
6.26
6.25
-0.01
Operations
6.25
6.25
0.00
Middle Office Services
6.21
6.19
-0.02
Reporting to the Tax Authorities
6.19
6.19
0.00
KYC , AML and Sanctions Screening
6.18
6.19
0.01
Reporting to Investors
6.17
6.19
0.02
On-boarding
6.15
6.14
-0.01
Investor Services
6.15
6.20
0.05
Reporting to Regulators
6.12
6.16
0.04
Price
5.74
5.73
-0.01
Average
6.18
6.19
0.01
76 Global Custodian Fund Services Annual 2022