David Fisher
As part of our commitment to providing top-quality fund administration for alternative investments Phoenix American, throughout the year, attends conferences, trade shows, presentations and networking events hosted by various industry participants. Late in August, we attended the FactRight Due Diligence conference in Nashville. Our commitment to engagement with the investment fund community helps enhance our fund administration offering in many ways. At these events, we learn about regulatory changes, new trends in investment strategy, new approaches to fundraising and we develop valuable relationships with contacts throughout the industry. For several years, we’ve attended FactRight due diligence conferences, which is a valuable industry engagement experience for a fund administration provider.
FactRight is a leading provider of due diligence and advice for financial advisors interested in alternative investment opportunities for their clients. FactRight investigates and explains all aspects of a private fund offering so financial advisors can make informed investment recommendations for their clients. Their bi-annual conferences are designed with this goal in mind. Bringing together fund managers, broker-dealers (BDs), registered investment advisors (RIAs) and service and technology providers, the event is centered around financial advisors learning about available alternative investment fund offerings along with due diligence evaluations of each from FactRight.
Fund sponsors are able to make individual presentations of their products with PowerPoint presentations in front of all of the financial advisors and broker dealers that are there. Each is allowed 15-20 minutes for their presentation. Once the sponsors have done their presentations, FactRight conducts a closed-door due diligence evaluation on each offering for the BDs and RIAs – what they see as the strengths or weaknesses of the investment or if there are potential risks that maybe the sponsors are overlooking.
Financial advisors are able to gain a thorough perspective on which investments may be a good fit for their clients. While there are educational sessions and panel discussions on industry topics as with other conferences, the focus of the FactRight conference is on the presentation and evaluation of fund offerings for broker-dealers and RIAs.
Over 50 sponsors alternative investment funds attended along with more than 160 broker-dealers and RIAs. Fund types represented included non traded REITs, interval funds, private real estate funds, Delaware Statutory Trusts (DSTs), Qualified Opportunity Zone (QOZ) funds and oil and gas programs. All presented their offerings, their strategies and their track record for the consideration of financial advisors. Phoenix American exhibits our fund administration offering in an exhibit hall along with other providers of services, technology and investment products.
Fund administration involves working with many participants in the industry. Fund administration systems and procedures have to be geared for the needs of the whole ecosystem. The better we understand the goals, concerns and priorities of fund sponsors, financial advisors, custodians, due diligence firms and other participants, the better our fund administration systems and services can be made to enhance the efficiency of an ever-changing industry. This is why we appreciate FactRight conferences.
This year, Phoenix American produced a timely white paper, with contributions from FactRight, for distribution at the conference: Fund Operations & Strategy in Uncertain Economic Times. This paper examines the current environment of high inflation, rising interest rates and complicated consumer and investor sentiment – and some things fund sponsors can do to insulate themselves from the ‘predictably unpredictable’ upheavals that roil financial markets. The fund administration role exposes us to the varied experiences of hundreds of clients in every kind of challenging situation. We are happy to share the knowledge we have gained so the industry can benefit from our perspective as a fund administration provider.
We also hosted an after-hours Phoenix American whiskey-tasting event with live music and lively conversation with many of the conference attendees. For a little while, fund administration was not top-of-mind.
Quality networking time with the people who build, buy, sell and service alternative investment funds is the best kind of research for a fund administration provider into the needs, preferences and goals of the different players in the industry. Phoenix American as a fund administration provider shares with FactRight an agnostic third-party perspective on funds, investments and investors and our services are informed and enhanced by a deeper knowledge of their perspectives.
