Hedge fund service provider NorthPoint, has completed the February 2013 round of Form PF submissions for a broad range of hedge fund and asset management clients.
“Form PF is an exercise for which it definitely pays to ‘measure twice and cut once.’ Since the original Form PF mandate, we have worked closely with our clients to help them navigate through this operationally challenging process – right from data collection to electronic submissions,” said Joseph Amarante, NorthPoint Managing Partner. “Based on the success that we have had with recent filings, coupled with our platform’s ability to integrate with existing systems, we are confident that our solution is the right choice for any fund looking for an extensible solution to simplify and manage the filing process.”
The NorthPoint Form PF Solution is an enterprise application and data repository assisting investment advisors to submit the Form PF filings. The solution provides easy-to-use data management tools to collect, classify, and aggregate the varied sources of data required for the filing. A rich user interface provides tools and reports to review, audit and sign-off on reporting instructions based on the fund’s unique reporting elections. The entire process is monitored on a dashboard that shows the status of each section and the overall progress of the filing preparation. Filings can be prepared and submitted within the application, and all collected information is retained to provide audit trails of reported numbers.
NorthPoint offers practical insights and notes that investment advisors need to:
• Start early or it will be a fire drill around the reporting date. Funds usually misjudge the amount of time and collaboration necessary for their business units to complete a successful filing.
• Be aware that there is considerable room for interpretation in the way investment advisors complete Form PF. For many of the questions, there is no single answer. Reporting choices made now could significantly affect how funds may be viewed in future by investors.
• Create a “Form PF Working Committee” that is a cross-functional team consisting of members from different business units to facilitate communication and coordination.
• Approach the filing as a data and risk management exercise, not just a regulatory reporting requirement.
• Where possible, automate the mapping and collection of data through a Data Warehouse and automated data load functions to ensure a repeatable process and consistent filings.
• Identify a quarter for creating a ‘mock filing’ to test your data consistency and operation processes. This should cover identifying, collecting and reviewing data, along with completing the electronic submission to the production mirror site.
These broadly applicable lessons will help investment advisors be better prepared and confident when their reporting becomes mandatory.
About NorthPoint®
NorthPoint Financial is a leading provider of software and services focused exclusively on the Financial Services Markets. Our solutions include Trade Order Management, Compliance, Portfolio and Risk Management, Form PF, Securities Master, and Data Warehouse. Each solution is customizable and is designed to improve business processes by streamlining workflows and improving automation. Our team’s deep understanding of diverse investment strategies, operational workflows and technology allows us to provide our clients with optimal solutions. Our consulting services include Strategic Advisory, Product Selection, Project Management, Business Analysis, System Architecture, Custom Software Development, and Systems Integration.
For more information, please visit www.northps.com and or call us at 212.819.1700 for lessons learned.
Media Contact: Shruti Shah
Phone: 212.819.1700
Email: sshah@northps.com
