Hedge Fund Focus

HBM launches comprehensive hedge fund administration, bucking challenging market

Linedata Services (LIN:FP), announced today that it has struck a deal to license MFact, MShare and Linedata Reporting to HBM Fund Services (“HBM”), the newly launched fund administration arm spun out of HBM Group. HBM Group is a leading independent financial services provider with 18-years of experience, headquartered in Curaçao, Netherlands Antilles, and also operating in the jurisdictions of Anguilla, Aruba, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, New York, Malta, Panama, St. Maarten, The Netherlands and Uruguay.

HBM selected Linedata’s MFact, a fund administration platform, MShare, a shareholder accounting solution, and Linedata Reporting, which can provide customized reports online, so it could service the entire spectrum of hedge funds in the market. HBM launched with several hedge fund clients already in place, despite the difficult operating environment faced by the whole industry, by capitalizing on the reputation of its parent company, its impartiality, and its comprehensive fund administration solutions powered by Linedata.

Robert Schaeffer, Managing Director, HBM Fund Services stated:

”Although we’re a new entry in the market, we tap into a deep wealth of experience from our corporate parent, and have senior staff with more than 20 years of experience in the alternative space.  This experience, combined with Linedata’s comprehensive, state-of-the-art technology and web-based reporting capabilities, gave us a compelling, differentiated service offering that has been successful from day one.”

This deal marks the first time that Linedata Reporting has been paired with Linedata Services’ back-office suite. This gives HBM the ability to offer web-based reporting, a significant investment in technology and services by a “start-up” fund administrator.

The deal also reflects how investor due-diligence and demands for transparency and disclosure have worked their way across the entire buy-side, from front-office (traders) to the back-office (fund administrators). In the wake of recent industry scandals, many hedge funds and fund-of-funds are retaining independent fund administrators to help rebuild investor confidence and attract new investment capital, emphasizing transparency and responsiveness.