New York (HedgeCo.net) – Gemini Fund Services, LLC (Gemini), an engaged partner to independent advisers as a provider of comprehensive, pooled investment solutions, and Cole-Frieman Mallon & Hunt LLP (Cole-Frieman), a premier boutique investment management law firm, providing top-tier, responsive and cost-effective legal solutions for financial services matters, have partnered to launch Two Roads Shared Trust (Two Roads), a shared mutual fund trust, which will be overseen by an independent board of trustees.
Two Roads is tailored to advisers, such as hedge fund managers, who wish to start alternative mutual funds. Funds will be able to join Two Roads in the third quarter of 2012.
“The mutual fund industry continues to embrace alternative investment strategies during this volatile market, and we look forward to working with Cole-Frieman to help emerging advisers reap the benefits of implementing their own alternative strategies,” said Andrew Rogers, President of Gemini. “We are confident that we have found the right partner for executing this venture because Cole-Frieman has not only established an impressive footprint in the hedge fund sector, but its presence on the West Coast will help Gemini expand the geographic scope of our pooled investment services.”
Robert Frost’s poem “The Road Not Taken” inspired the new trust’s name. “While the alternative mutual fund path may be ‘the one less traveled by,’ as Robert Frost wrote, it may reap rewards for those advisers who take it,” said Mr. Rogers.
Two Roads, like Gemini’s three Northern Lights Fund Trust pooled investment vehicles, will be composed of separately managed, independent funds. By joining Two Roads, funds receive fund sales, board and regulatory compliance oversight, operational efficiency and economies of scale that they would not otherwise be able to obtain by themselves. Two Roads membership also entitles funds to introductions to broker/dealers and assistance with their marketing and distribution plans.
“We are very excited to work with Gemini Fund Services to launch Two Roads Shared Trust,” said Aisha Hunt, a Partner who heads the Alternative Mutual Fund Practice at Cole-Frieman. “Very few mutual fund service providers are experienced in servicing hedge fund managers. Two Roads will leverage this combined expertise to provide hedge fund managers with a cost-effective solution for launching mutual funds that employ hedge fund strategies.”
“Most hedge fund managers do not realize that mutual fund shared trusts have significantly lowered the costs and barriers of entry to launch a mutual fund,” added Karl Cole-Frieman, a Partner at Cole-Frieman. “The convergence of lower barriers of entry and historical demand for alternative mutual funds has created an unprecedented opportunity for hedge fund managers to raise assets through a shared trust.”
About Gemini Fund Services, LLC
Gemini Fund Services, LLC ( www.geminifund.com ) provides comprehensive, pooled investment solutions as an engaged partner to independent advisers. Gemini serves as a strategic partner and resource to advisers that want to bring their own, unique investment vehicles to market, including mutual funds, hedge funds, and alternative investments such as collective investment trusts. As a full-service firm, Gemini provides the administration, accounting, and technology that advisers need in order to launch and market successful products. With over 25 years of experience creating and servicing funds, Gemini brings years of industry knowledge and insight to help advisers achieve the vision of their product and deliver the most extensive range of turnkey solutions to clients.
About Cole-Frieman Mallon & Hunt LLP
Cole-Frieman Mallon & Hunt LLP is a premier boutique investment management law firm, providing top-tier, responsive, and cost-effective legal solutions for financial services matters. Headquartered in San Francisco, the firm has an international practice that services emerging investment managers, as well as established investment management firms. The firm provides a full suite of legal services to the investment management community, including: investment adviser registration, hedge fund and private equity fund formation, ’40 Act fund registration (traditional and alternative mutual funds, closed-end funds and ETFs), counterparty documentation, SEC, CFTC, NFA and FINRA matters, and routine business matters.
