Save Money with Transfer Agent Services
The overall benefit of relieving management of the distractions of transfer agent and other back-office tasks is incalculable.
The benefits to investment funds of outsourced transfer agent services are many and varied. The general benefit of relieving management of the distractions of transfer agent tasks is incalculable. But here are a number of specific ways that third-party transfer agent services simply benefit the bottom line.
Payroll Savings and Efficiency
The costs and complications of maintaining an in-house staff for transfer agent functions only magnifies as your fund succeeds and grows. Recruiting, training sick time, vacations, employee benefits and paid leave are considerable expenses and unnecessary headaches for a successful and expanding office. Hiring and firing, overstaffing and understaffing are ongoing and expensive challenges that impede consistency in in-house transfer agent teams. A quality third-party transfer agent services provider gets all the back-office tasks done with professionalism and without human resources issues for management.
Specialized transfer agent systems in the hands of trained and experienced operators accelerate and streamline every transfer agent function. Here are a couple items that are minimized by leveraging professional transfer agent services:
- Hours spent on new investment entry
- Resolution of errors
- Reporting, maintenance
- Transfers
- Distributions
- Commission calculations
Controls built into transfer agent systems that apply data uniformity, minimize errors, track activity and provide audit trails also enhance efficiency.
A full-service transfer agent services provider utilizes advanced and integrated transfer agent and accounting systems that coordinate in real-time for capital calls, distributions, tax form production, compliance reporting and investor transparency via mail, email or web portal delivery. This optimizes data flow, maximizes data security and reduces the cost of every transfer agent function.
Audits, Role-Specific Expertise and the Reputation of Your Fund
Auditors price their services based on each client’s history of the organization and timely preparedness for their audit. A transfer agent services provider delivers prompt scheduled delivery of accurate and flexibly available data making the audit process more efficient, less disruptive and less expensive for fund management. The experience of a transfer agent firm with meeting the audit requirements of many client funds makes the process a straightforward matter of routine.
An appropriate division of labor means all parties focus on their core competencies. A transfer agent services provider focuses on:
- Performing administrative functions
- Keeping up with industry regulations and trends
- Requirements and best practices on the transfer agent side so fund management can focus intensely on sales and investments.
This minimizes operational risk and the costs and distractions associated with responding to unforeseen issues on the transfer agent side.
Professional third-party transfer agent services make an impression. Investors, financial advisors, auditors, institutions and regulators notice when everyday activity is prompt and accurate, questions, requests and requirements are addressed swiftly and knowledgeably and deliverables are of high quality and professional appearance. Professional transfer agent services help fund management acquire a reputation for stability and excellence. When both investment return and operational responsiveness from the transfer agent excel, investors feel confident in their investment choice. Such a reputation encourages reinvestments and referrals of new investments.
By migrating transfer agent functions to a third-party provider, in-house staff can be re-deployed to activities that contribute to enhanced returns. Additionally, a transfer agent partner that is able to provide sales reporting, financial reporting, web portal solutions, fulfillment services and investor/advisor phone support helps to support and empower these activities – magnifying the benefit of reassigning the in-house transfer agent services staff.
Experience and Economies of Scale
The experience of a transfer agent firm allows client funds to skip steps and streamline functions. Since a seasoned transfer agent services provider has learned from the experience of many clients, funds can benefit from the experience of others rather than make avoidable mistakes themselves.
Transfer agents allow funds to benefit from the centralized processing of one provider for many clients. The economy of scale not only concentrates transfer agent experience and knowledge where it does the most good but reduces the hourly cost of all transfer agent tasks and eliminates the waste of salaried in-house transfer agent staff with more paid time than tasks to perform.
Smooth effective transfer agent services avoid regulatory action. An experienced and engaged transfer agent services firm can call fund management’s attention to potential red flags, avoiding costly mistakes and violations. An advanced transfer agent will establish procedures and policies that keep funds from avoidable mistakes, saving the time, cost and disruption of regulatory inquiries.
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