Running foundations in today’s climate can be a great challenge. On top of bringing to light its advocacies in what may sometimes appear to be a cynical world, foundations have to cope with tedious daily operational demands. Moreover, it must face the realities of engaging in cause-oriented work: The need to raise funds.
These challenges are often compounded by the limitations on the resources of these organizations. As a matter of principle, as well as a matter of commitment to their donors and supporters, foundations should put their cause above their other concerns. This means that they can only devote so much funds towards the functions happening behind the scenes: Human resource recruitment and development, procurement of the necessary equipment, rentals of facilities, deployment of marketing strategies, financial accounting, donor reporting, fund raising, among many others.
But the completion of all these tasks is just as critical to a foundation’s success. After all, the organization would be unable to carry through its advocacy work without funds, without people, without tools and technologies, without the support of partners, donors, the general public, and even the government.
This is where help from asset servicing firms comes into play. These firms provide middle and back office solutions that make accounting, documentation of activities and transactions, data management, tax reporting, and fund management so much easier to manage. They have the latest tools, as well as a pool of professionals who specialize in these domains, so that foundations need not invest so much resources into learning the skills,acquiring tools and manpower, and tedious paperwork.
Asset servicing firms provide various forms of assistance to foundations as they keep up with all these demands. They can take care of bookkeeping and accounting, financial report preparation, researching on possible sources of funding especially by monitoring grants, and determining avenues for growing the assets that may be invested. Because they handle this role for many other organizations, they can absorb the costs of middle and back office work, while their clients can drastically reduce the budget for staffing, and the use and maintenance of office space and equipment.
Furthermore, the foundation’s management need not be tied up to their desks crunching the numbers. Instead, they can devote their full attention to relating with potential institutional partners donors, or crafting strategies for organizational growth, and perhaps most importantly, engaging with their beneficiaries – the very reason for the foundation’s existence.
Showing posts with label Business Planning and Management. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Business Planning and Management. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 25, 2017
Monday, January 16, 2017
Hedge fund news: North America funds outperforming other regions as 2016 draws to a close
Hedge fund news has not been this good in quite a while for North America-focused vehicles. Although October saw these funds incur a loss of 0.69 percent, returns were at 2.89 percent in November, improving year-to-date returns to 9.09 percent. As such, North America funds are still outperforming all other regions so far.
Stats have been encouraging across the board
Speaking in general terms, November was a very good month for the hedge fund industry. Based on the latest readings from the Preqin All-Strategies Hedge Fund benchmark, gains were at 1 percent in November, boosting YTD totals to 6.34 percent. Event-driven strategies did especially well, with gains of 2.34 percent, as all other top-level strategies enjoyed positive returns in November. YTD performance for event-driven funds is at 10.74 percent as of the end of November 2016, and even relative value funds, which have the lowest performance thus far, are doing solidly, with YTD returns of 4.08 percent.
Election results drove hedge fund strength in North America
One reason why the hedge fund news was so good, according to reports, was the outcome of the 2016 U.S. presidential elections. This was theorized in a statement from Preqin’s head of hedge fund products, Amy Bensted.
“Hedge funds focused on North America generated healthy performance in November and exceeded all other regions, as firms capitalized on opportunities arising from the US election result,” said Bensted. She added that most hedge fund managers surveyed in November 2016 expect the good news to continue over the last few weeks of 2016, and while European and Asian funds have only experienced “marginal” gains, all regions were solid or better year-to-date.
Things are looking good in 2017, and could get better
Preqin’s Bensted also noted that the hedge fund industry may have more good news to look forward to in 2017, as performance may likely beat 2014 and 2015 levels. But there are other reasons why 2017 may be a good year for the space, and they mainly relate to the companies hedge fund managers deal with for their asset servicing needs.
Given the relatively new premium on transparency and accuracy and the regulations instituted in the aftermath of the economic crisis, more fund managers are outsourcing their back and middle office to third party companies. With these companies making life easier for fund managers, it can be said that 2017 has all the potential in the world to be a better year for hedge fund news.
Stats have been encouraging across the board
Speaking in general terms, November was a very good month for the hedge fund industry. Based on the latest readings from the Preqin All-Strategies Hedge Fund benchmark, gains were at 1 percent in November, boosting YTD totals to 6.34 percent. Event-driven strategies did especially well, with gains of 2.34 percent, as all other top-level strategies enjoyed positive returns in November. YTD performance for event-driven funds is at 10.74 percent as of the end of November 2016, and even relative value funds, which have the lowest performance thus far, are doing solidly, with YTD returns of 4.08 percent.
Election results drove hedge fund strength in North America
One reason why the hedge fund news was so good, according to reports, was the outcome of the 2016 U.S. presidential elections. This was theorized in a statement from Preqin’s head of hedge fund products, Amy Bensted.
“Hedge funds focused on North America generated healthy performance in November and exceeded all other regions, as firms capitalized on opportunities arising from the US election result,” said Bensted. She added that most hedge fund managers surveyed in November 2016 expect the good news to continue over the last few weeks of 2016, and while European and Asian funds have only experienced “marginal” gains, all regions were solid or better year-to-date.
Things are looking good in 2017, and could get better
Preqin’s Bensted also noted that the hedge fund industry may have more good news to look forward to in 2017, as performance may likely beat 2014 and 2015 levels. But there are other reasons why 2017 may be a good year for the space, and they mainly relate to the companies hedge fund managers deal with for their asset servicing needs.
Given the relatively new premium on transparency and accuracy and the regulations instituted in the aftermath of the economic crisis, more fund managers are outsourcing their back and middle office to third party companies. With these companies making life easier for fund managers, it can be said that 2017 has all the potential in the world to be a better year for hedge fund news.
Tuesday, August 23, 2016
A Conundrum: The Telehealth Solution and Government’s Policy Support
Policy makers are major change-makers when it comes to the application of telehealth. Being a budding technology and practice, a significant hurdle currently faced by telehealth programs is the lack of standardized policies regarding telehealth.
As each state’s medical board defines the standard of care that physicians must provide to patients, these state medical boards have the power to decide whether physicians can provide telehealth services and the conditions under which they can provide it. Without proper guidance from the board, physicians become widely exposed to incurring risk, which leads to their reluctance to provide telehealth services.
In some states, physicians are required to establish physician-patient relationship through in-person encounters only, at least for the first of their patient-physician visits. This is based on the presumed difference in quality of care provided from the virtual encounter compared to an in-person one. These kinds of policies impede the adoption of telehealth. Patients are not allowed to consult with doctors they only met virtually. This limits the capability of physicians to provide healthcare services to remote locations and largely negates the purpose with which telehealth is developed.
Meanwhile, other states have crafted policies that affirmatively allow providers to establish a physician-patient relationship using telehealth. States such as West Virginia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas, have provided provisions for the applications of telehealth albeit using different standards for practice within each of these states.
But this is not an isolated case: all states set their own laws and regulations; there are no national standards for telehealth. This lack of uniformity creates a serious legal obstacle for physicians who wish to practice medicine in multiple states.
States do not even have a consistent definition of what is considered as telehealth. For example, some states may require telehealth to involve real-time communication whereas others allow asynchronous messaging between patients and providers. Or one state may consider telehealth to include phone-based interactions while another requires interactive video.
These definitions may not even be internally consistent, as some states may have one definition for the general population and another set of rules for their Medicaid program. This complexity means that telehealth providers must research and adhere to different rules depending on where their patients are located and who is their insurer. Creating a consistent definition for telehealth among all states is a necessary step towards unlocking telehealth services that can be scaled nationally.
Castro, Miller, and Nager in a report for the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation entitled “Unlocking the Potential of Physician-to-Patient Telehealth Services” (May 2014) wrote:
Clearly, there is a lack of consistency between states’ finding policies for telehealthcare delivery, and absence of a straightforward, uniform policy for funding may pose a significant obstacle to this technology’s adoption.
Telehealth is a welcome development amid a chronic disease crisis in our country, where the continuous rise of the population affected with chronic illnesses is aggravating the already dire situation and causing the cost of health care services to skyrocket.
Sadly, the health industry in its current structure is leading us down an unsustainable path. If not addressed properly, the average American will lose the ability to access health care. This loss will result in even greater social and economic costs – from further stress on the health care sector, to diminished workers’ productivity, to the overall deterioration of all Americans’ quality of life.
With the rise of telehealth, we are seeing an opportunity to save the healthcare industry. Through the use of technologies available to the average American, health care services particularly for chronic illnesses could become less costly and of higher quality. Indeed, patterns across states show that telehealth has not only improved health care delivery but the way our society approaches health.
To encourage widespread adoption of telehealth, the following critical factors must be considered or addressed. Leading these factors is the lack of proper network infrastructures to address the demand for telehealth technologies. Without the proper infrastructure, no telehealth program will completely succeed. Stakeholders have recognized this and are taking steps to address it. Another consideration is financing sources for sustainable growth. Like other technologies, telehealth needs financing in order to continuously innovate. Several financing options, both public and private, are present.
Training of both practitioners and patients as well as capacity-building is also necessary. It is a big help that the technologies used in telehealth are mostly commercially available and are now deeply ingrained in the lives of people (i.e.., Internet, mobile communications, television, etc.). This familiarity with many everyday telecommunications tools used by all strata of society by people who have attained many different levels of education may auger in an easy transition for many people to use telehealth technologies for their healthcare needs.
Finally, policymakers must also do their share in order to encourage the use of telehealth. This move includes promoting a more standardized approach to telehealth programs, developing state policies that advance rather than impede telehealth applications, and deciding on ways to make healthcare reimbursement and coverage applicable to telehealth services.
There is a lot of work to do before we can fully reap the benefits of telehealth. But with the proper steps taken by all stakeholders, a society with improved access to quality health care through telehealthcare is a vision we can all look forward to and work on together to realize its development.
New opportunities are emerging for companies to provide industry solutions as a result of The Obamacare Health Care Act (ACA). Some of these companies are:
HExL
Richard A. Kimball, Jr. is CEO and Founder of HExL, a company that enables independent primary physicians to transform their practices financially and clinically to drive better health outcomes, lower costs and improve accessibility. We offer a turnkey technology enabled service enabling primary care physicians to enter into value based reimbursement programs and to be paid for keeping patients healthy.
Evolent Health
Frank Williams is CEO and Co-Founder of Evolent. This company provides the integrated technology, tools and team to advance value-based care. Our work begins with the Blueprint, an immediately actionable strategic roadmap that defines target markets, assesses needed clinical and operational capabilities, and is supported by a detailed business case.
Health Care Partners
Kent Thiry is CEO of Health Care Partners, a company that has been committed to developing innovative models of healthcare delivery that improve our patients' quality of life while containing healthcare costs. Our strength is in our steadfast commitment to our guiding principle of coordinated care. Our physicians strive daily to bring the benefits of coordinated care to more than 600,000 managed care patients in California, who represent the diversity of cultures, socioeconomic groups, ages, and health statuses in the communities we serve.
As each state’s medical board defines the standard of care that physicians must provide to patients, these state medical boards have the power to decide whether physicians can provide telehealth services and the conditions under which they can provide it. Without proper guidance from the board, physicians become widely exposed to incurring risk, which leads to their reluctance to provide telehealth services.
In some states, physicians are required to establish physician-patient relationship through in-person encounters only, at least for the first of their patient-physician visits. This is based on the presumed difference in quality of care provided from the virtual encounter compared to an in-person one. These kinds of policies impede the adoption of telehealth. Patients are not allowed to consult with doctors they only met virtually. This limits the capability of physicians to provide healthcare services to remote locations and largely negates the purpose with which telehealth is developed.
Meanwhile, other states have crafted policies that affirmatively allow providers to establish a physician-patient relationship using telehealth. States such as West Virginia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas, have provided provisions for the applications of telehealth albeit using different standards for practice within each of these states.
But this is not an isolated case: all states set their own laws and regulations; there are no national standards for telehealth. This lack of uniformity creates a serious legal obstacle for physicians who wish to practice medicine in multiple states.
States do not even have a consistent definition of what is considered as telehealth. For example, some states may require telehealth to involve real-time communication whereas others allow asynchronous messaging between patients and providers. Or one state may consider telehealth to include phone-based interactions while another requires interactive video.
These definitions may not even be internally consistent, as some states may have one definition for the general population and another set of rules for their Medicaid program. This complexity means that telehealth providers must research and adhere to different rules depending on where their patients are located and who is their insurer. Creating a consistent definition for telehealth among all states is a necessary step towards unlocking telehealth services that can be scaled nationally.
Castro, Miller, and Nager in a report for the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation entitled “Unlocking the Potential of Physician-to-Patient Telehealth Services” (May 2014) wrote:
Another major barrier to the widespread adoption of telehealth has been lack of consistent reimbursement policies for telehealth services. Reimbursement policies vary from state to state. Each state determines whether its Medicaid program will reimburse for particular telehealth services and under what conditions. For example, some states only reimburse for telehealth services in certain geographic regions, such as rural or underserved areas within the state. Others restrict patients from obtaining telehealth services in their home, instead requiring them to be at a clinic. Overall, every state’s Medicaid program except Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, and Rhode Island reimburses at least some telehealth services, such as live video encounters. However, only seven states (Alaska, Arkansas, Hawaii, Illinois, Minnesota, New Mexico, and Vermont) allow Medicaid reimbursements for “store-and-forward” services such as tele-dermatology, which happen asynchronously. Only ten states (Alabama, Alaska, Colorado, Kansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, New York, Texas, Utah, and Washington) offer Medicaid reimbursement for remote patient monitoring in the home. States also can determine whether private insurers will reimburse for telehealth services. Twenty-one states have passed laws requiring private insurers to cover some form of telehealth. For example, Montana and Virginia require insurers to cover telehealth services and reimburse at the same rate they would for in-person services. Other states, like Georgia, New Mexico, and Texas only require coverage, but do not require that the reimbursement rate be equal to in-person services. Reimbursement policies have an impact on telehealth adoption: hospitals are more likely to adopt telehealth if they are in states requiring private payers to reimburse telehealth services at the same rate as in-person services.
Clearly, there is a lack of consistency between states’ finding policies for telehealthcare delivery, and absence of a straightforward, uniform policy for funding may pose a significant obstacle to this technology’s adoption.
Telehealth is a welcome development amid a chronic disease crisis in our country, where the continuous rise of the population affected with chronic illnesses is aggravating the already dire situation and causing the cost of health care services to skyrocket.
Sadly, the health industry in its current structure is leading us down an unsustainable path. If not addressed properly, the average American will lose the ability to access health care. This loss will result in even greater social and economic costs – from further stress on the health care sector, to diminished workers’ productivity, to the overall deterioration of all Americans’ quality of life.
With the rise of telehealth, we are seeing an opportunity to save the healthcare industry. Through the use of technologies available to the average American, health care services particularly for chronic illnesses could become less costly and of higher quality. Indeed, patterns across states show that telehealth has not only improved health care delivery but the way our society approaches health.
To encourage widespread adoption of telehealth, the following critical factors must be considered or addressed. Leading these factors is the lack of proper network infrastructures to address the demand for telehealth technologies. Without the proper infrastructure, no telehealth program will completely succeed. Stakeholders have recognized this and are taking steps to address it. Another consideration is financing sources for sustainable growth. Like other technologies, telehealth needs financing in order to continuously innovate. Several financing options, both public and private, are present.
Training of both practitioners and patients as well as capacity-building is also necessary. It is a big help that the technologies used in telehealth are mostly commercially available and are now deeply ingrained in the lives of people (i.e.., Internet, mobile communications, television, etc.). This familiarity with many everyday telecommunications tools used by all strata of society by people who have attained many different levels of education may auger in an easy transition for many people to use telehealth technologies for their healthcare needs.
Finally, policymakers must also do their share in order to encourage the use of telehealth. This move includes promoting a more standardized approach to telehealth programs, developing state policies that advance rather than impede telehealth applications, and deciding on ways to make healthcare reimbursement and coverage applicable to telehealth services.
There is a lot of work to do before we can fully reap the benefits of telehealth. But with the proper steps taken by all stakeholders, a society with improved access to quality health care through telehealthcare is a vision we can all look forward to and work on together to realize its development.
New opportunities are emerging for companies to provide industry solutions as a result of The Obamacare Health Care Act (ACA). Some of these companies are:
HExL
Richard A. Kimball, Jr. is CEO and Founder of HExL, a company that enables independent primary physicians to transform their practices financially and clinically to drive better health outcomes, lower costs and improve accessibility. We offer a turnkey technology enabled service enabling primary care physicians to enter into value based reimbursement programs and to be paid for keeping patients healthy.
Evolent Health
Frank Williams is CEO and Co-Founder of Evolent. This company provides the integrated technology, tools and team to advance value-based care. Our work begins with the Blueprint, an immediately actionable strategic roadmap that defines target markets, assesses needed clinical and operational capabilities, and is supported by a detailed business case.
Health Care Partners
Kent Thiry is CEO of Health Care Partners, a company that has been committed to developing innovative models of healthcare delivery that improve our patients' quality of life while containing healthcare costs. Our strength is in our steadfast commitment to our guiding principle of coordinated care. Our physicians strive daily to bring the benefits of coordinated care to more than 600,000 managed care patients in California, who represent the diversity of cultures, socioeconomic groups, ages, and health statuses in the communities we serve.
Monday, May 30, 2016
Family Offices: Helping families manage their wealth across generations
Taking into account the specialized knowledge and assistance required to manage one’s money intelligently, high-net worth individuals have taken to engaging the services of family offices.
Whether one has inherited wealth or created it, the discerning investor ultimately wishes protect and nurture it in order to benefit his family over the long term. This is easier said than done, however, considering that a single bad investment or clan dispute can be all it takes to tank a fortune that took years – perhaps even generations – to build.
Rising demand
Family offices – which could be part of a traditional bank or a more boutique outfit – are wealth management firms that tend to the financial needs and goals of an affluent individual or family. Their benefits are as elite as the clientele: in additional to the traditional investment advising, estate planning, tax accounting, and consulting on various financial moves, they also offer white-glove perks such as the handling of art and other collections, tracing medical and genealogical history to help the clients better understand their heritage, and teaching the younger generations the value of money and how to use it well in the future.
While family offices have been around since the 19th century, demand for them has increased over the years, especially for their financial planning and asset coordination functions, culminating in the 2008 financial crisis. With this background, managers in these offices work to help a family navigate the current economic landscape so that they can achieve their financial objectives.
Optimizing operations
Given the array of services to be delivered and the bespoke needs of its clients, managers overseeing a particular family’s portfolio need to remain abreast of the latest wealth management trends and optimize their operations so as to remain efficient at their core task: growing their wealth.
Asset servicing companies can help free up managers to focus on strategy and decision-making on behalf of their clients by providing them with fund administration support.
Their middle and back office solutions include daily cash, position, and trade reconciliation across all counterparties, portfolio level analytics including performance attribution and risk metrics as well as comprehensive financial reporting, accounting, compliance, and tax services. Cloud-based reporting platforms also allow managers to access their data from any browser, aiding them in their analysis.
With the help of asset servicing companies that streamline back end operations, managers in family offices can focus on what they do best – providing a family with the best financial advice for its future.
Whether one has inherited wealth or created it, the discerning investor ultimately wishes protect and nurture it in order to benefit his family over the long term. This is easier said than done, however, considering that a single bad investment or clan dispute can be all it takes to tank a fortune that took years – perhaps even generations – to build.
Rising demand
Family offices – which could be part of a traditional bank or a more boutique outfit – are wealth management firms that tend to the financial needs and goals of an affluent individual or family. Their benefits are as elite as the clientele: in additional to the traditional investment advising, estate planning, tax accounting, and consulting on various financial moves, they also offer white-glove perks such as the handling of art and other collections, tracing medical and genealogical history to help the clients better understand their heritage, and teaching the younger generations the value of money and how to use it well in the future.
While family offices have been around since the 19th century, demand for them has increased over the years, especially for their financial planning and asset coordination functions, culminating in the 2008 financial crisis. With this background, managers in these offices work to help a family navigate the current economic landscape so that they can achieve their financial objectives.
Optimizing operations
Given the array of services to be delivered and the bespoke needs of its clients, managers overseeing a particular family’s portfolio need to remain abreast of the latest wealth management trends and optimize their operations so as to remain efficient at their core task: growing their wealth.
Asset servicing companies can help free up managers to focus on strategy and decision-making on behalf of their clients by providing them with fund administration support.
Their middle and back office solutions include daily cash, position, and trade reconciliation across all counterparties, portfolio level analytics including performance attribution and risk metrics as well as comprehensive financial reporting, accounting, compliance, and tax services. Cloud-based reporting platforms also allow managers to access their data from any browser, aiding them in their analysis.
With the help of asset servicing companies that streamline back end operations, managers in family offices can focus on what they do best – providing a family with the best financial advice for its future.
Sunday, April 3, 2016
The value of outsourcing fund administration
Among hedge funds, private equity companies, and many other players in the securities industry, outsourcing fund administration has become ever more commonplace. Fund administration covers financial reporting, accounting, daily, weekly, and monthly computation of NAV or Net Asset Value, and fund portfolio valuation, among other roles.
This article discusses the value of following this growing trend.
Through fund administrators, asset managers can access scalable solutions. The world of fund management is a complex one, and challenges here need to be met with the solution that responds to their nature. Asset managers need to display a commitment to keep tabs on –and adapt to – the developments in the market. This, in turn, calls for scalable solutions that will provide just the right kind of support based on the manager’s assessment of such factors as the investment risks, the yield rate, and the opportunities for growth. Fund administrators can provide this, because they have the time and resources to develop customized tools for the asset management firms that they serve.
Fund administrators can take on the red tape and compliance duties. Dealing in fund management entails facing bureaucracy at different levels. This can refer to negotiating with industry regulators, preparing the many reports that must be submitted on a regular basis, and ensuring that company practices adhere to the pertinent federal laws. Fund administrators can also take care of preparing and filing reports to local regulatory bodies, and monitor fund movements vis a vis anti-money laundering rules.
With their assistance, day-to-day fund management operations become much more efficient. Fund administrators have mastered – and have the tools for – the tedious tasks that come with fund management. For example, they can deftly handle the calculation of the yield and other metrics important to the client, conduct regular valuation and asset verification, price securities based on the present market value, and perform daily reconciliation of statements of the investment manager, the bank, and all involved brokers. On a daily basis, they also oversee the purchase and sale of securities, as well as distribute the dividends arising therefrom.
Truly, in many ways, fund administration services help asset management firms promote efficiency in their operations, and let them be more responsive to the demands of the market. With their assistance in all phases of fund management, managers will see a much higher level of quality of operations, one that greatly benefits from automation, real-time information delivery, and consistency of results.
This article discusses the value of following this growing trend.
Through fund administrators, asset managers can access scalable solutions. The world of fund management is a complex one, and challenges here need to be met with the solution that responds to their nature. Asset managers need to display a commitment to keep tabs on –and adapt to – the developments in the market. This, in turn, calls for scalable solutions that will provide just the right kind of support based on the manager’s assessment of such factors as the investment risks, the yield rate, and the opportunities for growth. Fund administrators can provide this, because they have the time and resources to develop customized tools for the asset management firms that they serve.
Fund administrators can take on the red tape and compliance duties. Dealing in fund management entails facing bureaucracy at different levels. This can refer to negotiating with industry regulators, preparing the many reports that must be submitted on a regular basis, and ensuring that company practices adhere to the pertinent federal laws. Fund administrators can also take care of preparing and filing reports to local regulatory bodies, and monitor fund movements vis a vis anti-money laundering rules.
With their assistance, day-to-day fund management operations become much more efficient. Fund administrators have mastered – and have the tools for – the tedious tasks that come with fund management. For example, they can deftly handle the calculation of the yield and other metrics important to the client, conduct regular valuation and asset verification, price securities based on the present market value, and perform daily reconciliation of statements of the investment manager, the bank, and all involved brokers. On a daily basis, they also oversee the purchase and sale of securities, as well as distribute the dividends arising therefrom.
Truly, in many ways, fund administration services help asset management firms promote efficiency in their operations, and let them be more responsive to the demands of the market. With their assistance in all phases of fund management, managers will see a much higher level of quality of operations, one that greatly benefits from automation, real-time information delivery, and consistency of results.
Wednesday, February 25, 2015
Tax Considerations for Hedge Funds
The industry of hedge funds has seen tremendous growth in the last five years. In 2010, Hedge Fund Research, Inc. reported that 1,000 new hedge funds have entered the market, and nearly the same numbers are launched every year after.
Emerging hedge funds often struggle with finding a balance between establishing a performance track record and building an efficient operational framework. Performance always comes first, but no matter how impressive returns are, inefficient operations cannot sustain growth and will turn away many potential investors.
Structure
Hedge fund managers must consider early on how to structure their company because this will determine which tax laws affect them. Choosing between a transparent partnership and a corporate structure will depend on investor needs, trading jurisdictions, and the physical location of hedge fund principals.
Ample time should be devoted to reviewing structural options. The needs of investors, as well as the fund’s strategy for growth should be weighed when deciding between appropriate legal structures.
Tax due diligence
In the early years of the hedge fund industry, showing performance records and creating a strong sales pitch may have been enough to persuade investors. Nowadays, investors are very are particular about the details of a fund’s operation and taxation systems.
Many institutional investors prepare due diligence questionnaires. Fund managers must be prepared to answer queries related to exposure management, tax allocation methods, tax estimates, and other tax related concerns.
Carried interest
Carried interest is the allocated profit received by a hedge fund’s general partner for managing the investment partnership. As the government is always looking for tax offsets and striving for regulation of hedge fund practices, the taxation of carried interest should always be a consideration for hedge fund managers.
Managing separate accounts
Some investors may be interested in a particular strategy but hesitant to invest in an emerging hedge fund. Managers assuage their fears by establishing a separate account where they have trading control but limited access to the investor’s assets. Fund managers must be aware of the tax implications of such practice before implementing it.
Data reporting
The government has been setting stricter reporting regulations for hedge funds. Investors have also started demanding reporting systems that will inform them about compliance, risk management, and consistency of investment strategy.
These tax considerations must be dealt with in the early stages of a hedge fund’s investment cycle if frameworks are to be set for maximum growth.
Emerging hedge funds often struggle with finding a balance between establishing a performance track record and building an efficient operational framework. Performance always comes first, but no matter how impressive returns are, inefficient operations cannot sustain growth and will turn away many potential investors.
Structure
Hedge fund managers must consider early on how to structure their company because this will determine which tax laws affect them. Choosing between a transparent partnership and a corporate structure will depend on investor needs, trading jurisdictions, and the physical location of hedge fund principals.
Ample time should be devoted to reviewing structural options. The needs of investors, as well as the fund’s strategy for growth should be weighed when deciding between appropriate legal structures.
Tax due diligence
In the early years of the hedge fund industry, showing performance records and creating a strong sales pitch may have been enough to persuade investors. Nowadays, investors are very are particular about the details of a fund’s operation and taxation systems.
Many institutional investors prepare due diligence questionnaires. Fund managers must be prepared to answer queries related to exposure management, tax allocation methods, tax estimates, and other tax related concerns.
Carried interest
Carried interest is the allocated profit received by a hedge fund’s general partner for managing the investment partnership. As the government is always looking for tax offsets and striving for regulation of hedge fund practices, the taxation of carried interest should always be a consideration for hedge fund managers.
Managing separate accounts
Some investors may be interested in a particular strategy but hesitant to invest in an emerging hedge fund. Managers assuage their fears by establishing a separate account where they have trading control but limited access to the investor’s assets. Fund managers must be aware of the tax implications of such practice before implementing it.
Data reporting
The government has been setting stricter reporting regulations for hedge funds. Investors have also started demanding reporting systems that will inform them about compliance, risk management, and consistency of investment strategy.
These tax considerations must be dealt with in the early stages of a hedge fund’s investment cycle if frameworks are to be set for maximum growth.
Sunday, April 7, 2013
A Business Development Plan Can Help A Budding Enterprise
While business development is a carefully thought out strategy mainly used to grow a medium to large business, it can also benefit a small business. Of course, there are many elements that go into creating a comprehensive business development plan. A small business consultant can help you focus in on certain key elements of business growth. These key elements include customer service, increasing customer loyalty, targeting your prospective customers, lead generation, and providing incentives.
A business that neglects customer service is destined to fail because customers provide the revenue of a business. While this of course is obvious, many businesses, while paying lip service to the idea, neglect to make customers feel important. Here are some simple things that can immediately improve customer service. You should always answer your phone and keep your promises.
If a customer has a complaint, it is important to listen. Try to solve the problem amicably. Always try to be helpful to your customers, by enabling them to select the product that will help them most, for example. According to business expert Fred Reichheld, who wrote the popular book, Loyalty Rules, a 5 percent improvement in customer retention can improve the perceived value of your business value by 75 percent.
How, then, do you go about getting customers to know, like, and trust your business enough to be loyal to it? Train your staff to treat customers well and to be helpful and courteous. Train them to be knowledgeable about your products and services because ignorance or common courtesy will turn customers off. Word of mouth spreads rapidly, especially when customers are treated badly or given incorrect instructions or information.
The way to best position your brand is to have a clear vision of how your brand fits into the market. How does it cope with the competition and what is the best method of product distribution? What is the least expensive supply chain? Once you understand these crucial factors, position your brand to offer the same things as your competition but with an added or improved benefit.
Targeting your prospective customers means understanding the many factors about your customer's lives, then creating an idealized image of your average customer and designing services based on your projections about your target market. Speaking in public about your business, writing articles about your industry, networking with those in your field, engaging in promotional events, and advertising are just some of the many ways available to generate leads. You should have two types of incentive programs, one for your sales staff to want to sell more and one for your customers to want to buy more. Incentive programs can be as simple as offering more commission or discounts or as complex as arranging contests for cash prizes, trips, or products.
As a business owner, you have to think of your own unique techniques that you can use to grow your small business. Be proactive about devising ways that you can improve customer service. Simply starting up a business is not enough for success. You have to design business development programs.
A business that neglects customer service is destined to fail because customers provide the revenue of a business. While this of course is obvious, many businesses, while paying lip service to the idea, neglect to make customers feel important. Here are some simple things that can immediately improve customer service. You should always answer your phone and keep your promises.
If a customer has a complaint, it is important to listen. Try to solve the problem amicably. Always try to be helpful to your customers, by enabling them to select the product that will help them most, for example. According to business expert Fred Reichheld, who wrote the popular book, Loyalty Rules, a 5 percent improvement in customer retention can improve the perceived value of your business value by 75 percent.
How, then, do you go about getting customers to know, like, and trust your business enough to be loyal to it? Train your staff to treat customers well and to be helpful and courteous. Train them to be knowledgeable about your products and services because ignorance or common courtesy will turn customers off. Word of mouth spreads rapidly, especially when customers are treated badly or given incorrect instructions or information.
The way to best position your brand is to have a clear vision of how your brand fits into the market. How does it cope with the competition and what is the best method of product distribution? What is the least expensive supply chain? Once you understand these crucial factors, position your brand to offer the same things as your competition but with an added or improved benefit.
Targeting your prospective customers means understanding the many factors about your customer's lives, then creating an idealized image of your average customer and designing services based on your projections about your target market. Speaking in public about your business, writing articles about your industry, networking with those in your field, engaging in promotional events, and advertising are just some of the many ways available to generate leads. You should have two types of incentive programs, one for your sales staff to want to sell more and one for your customers to want to buy more. Incentive programs can be as simple as offering more commission or discounts or as complex as arranging contests for cash prizes, trips, or products.
As a business owner, you have to think of your own unique techniques that you can use to grow your small business. Be proactive about devising ways that you can improve customer service. Simply starting up a business is not enough for success. You have to design business development programs.
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