All managers active in the public markets space (and some who are not) are required to register with the relevant provincial securities regulator. This means having the prescribed amount of regulatory capital, proficiencies of key employees, adherence to the various National Instruments and Companion Policies issued by the regulators, and fulfillment of the requirements of compliance audits.

Attendees of this session will get an in-depth view of how to establish a compliance process and ‘culture of compliance’ such that visits from the regulator should be relatively painless process such that managers can have all that they need to answer regulators’ questions at hand. How to work with various regulators and comply with specific requests will also be discussed. Our panel includes a lawyer, operations specialist, and manager – all with deep knowledge of the space.

This is part 4 of our Starting an Alternative Fund series to be held throughout 2019. The topics this series will cover are the following:

Establishment:

• Structure and registration of the Fund Management Company – including roles, tax planning, proficiencies, capital requirements, creating a business plan, and (important!) managing expectations of investors and those starting the company
• Onshore fund structuring and tax planning – types of funds (including liquid alts) and costs
• Offshore fund structuring and tax planning – jurisdictions, why do so, advantages and disadvantages of structures, cost of going offshore; as well as how to engage service providers in various jurisdictions

Mid/back-office:

• Choosing service providers – primes, legal, auditor, fund administrator
• Compliance and Operations facets of establishing and maintaining a fund management company and various funds
• Finding staff/talent and compensation structures
• Getting ready for operations audits – including prescribed ones by securities commissions and those performed by out-sourced due diligence companies and in-house talent of potential investors
• Specific service providers and niche functions – which might include software, performance reporting (solutions), and trading venders; class action services, Fundserv back-office functions, Managed Account Platforms, due diligence services, and listing funds on an exchange

Sales & Marketing:

• Selling into the Retail channel – true retail/liquid alts as well as Accredited Investors/Offering Memorandum product (will include a primer on liquid alts and the market to date)
• Selling to sophisticated investors – including the Retail Accredited Investor channel, multi and single family offices, and institutional investors such as Canadian and foreign sovereign wealth funds, foundations & endowments, and public & private pension plans (both direct and through investment consultants)
• PR and exposure – honing your message and how to use earned adverting (aka free PR) to deliver it to the right audience (includes use of social media)
• Public opinion and industry surveys – using broad and targeted surveys to deliver actionable data for use in product design, pricing, and messaging