Stone House Consulting

Strategic, operational and IT consulting for investment managers and hedge funds

IT/Ops Cooperation, Investor Communication and Social Media

FTF News LogoIn part two of FTF News’ Q&A with Holly Miller, Stone House Consulting’s founding partner, discusses how to get IT and operations to work together effectively, the survey on investor communication and operational risk that Stone House is conducting with Infonic AG and innovative ways buy-side firms can leverage social media. Part one of the Q&A is here.

Filed under: Benchmarking / Surveys, Managing the Business, Operations, Press Coverage, Technology, , , , , ,

Managing the Increased Risks Associated with Outsourcing

Stone House Consulting provides 15 practical suggestions for managing the increased risks that may be introduced by outsourcing.  This slideshow was presented on Wednesday, 2 March 2011 at the 5th Annual OpRisk Conference in New York by Holly Miller, founding partner of Stone House Consulting.

Filed under: Hedge Fund / Alternative Investment Management, Operational Risk, Operations, Outsourcing, Traditional Investment Management, , , , , , , , , , ,

Investors’ IT Savvy, STP and the Cloud

FTF News LogoIn advance of chairing tomorrow’s 5th Annual OpRisk Conference in New York, Stone House Consulting’s founding partner, Holly Miller, is interviewed by Eugene Grygo of FTF News in a two-part series.  Read what she has to say in this first conversation about the role IT plays during investor due diligence, hidden risks in straight-through processing (STP) and how managers can use cloud computing to reduce operational risk.  Read the article.

Filed under: Operational Risk, Operations, Press Coverage, Technology, , , , , , , , ,

Stone House Consulting Releases its First Book–THE TOP TEN OPERATIONAL RISKS: A SURVIVAL GUIDE FOR INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT FIRMS AND HEDGE FUNDS

Book CoverPress Contacts:

Deborah Eisenberg / Matthew Chisum

Cognito

+1.415.946.8820

stonehouse@cognitomedia.com


  • Advanced Praise Offered by Leading Industry Executives including Bruce J. Feibel, CFA, Managing Director, BNY Mellon and Bill Bogle, Partner and Chief Compliance Officer, NEPC LLC
  • Available Now in Paperback and Electronically via Amazon Kindle

Thornton, Penn. – December 13, 2010 – Stone House Consulting, LLC, today announced the release of its first book entitled THE TOP TEN OPERATIONAL RISKS: A SURVIVAL GUIDE FOR INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT FIRMS AND HEDGE FUNDS. Written by the firm’s founding partner, Holly Miller, and partner Philip Lawton, the work is a collection of essays that draws upon extensive practical experience to offer clear and compelling advice to recognize and decrease the risk of loss due to inadequate internal processes, people and systems or external events.

“In the wake of the global financial crisis, asset management firms are paying more attention, not only to investment risk management, but also to oversight of the operational risks that come with day-to-day activities like portfolio valuation. Stone House Consulting’s book contains timely and thought-provoking essays of current interest to operations and technology managers,” said Bruce J. Feibel, CFA, Managing Director, BNY Mellon.

Starting with complacency on the part of senior management, each of this book’s central chapters addresses one of the ways in which investment management firms may be exposed to unwelcome surprises. Other chapters focus on technology, workflows and aspects of the segregation of duties that are especially significant in the investment management industry, such as observing the distinction between the firm and the funds it manages.

The authors additionally bring their experience to bear on reconciliation gaps, the importance of knowing the firm’s counterparties and the regulatory regimes to which they are answerable, and the challenges of effective strategic planning in a rapidly changing marketplace.

“In worst-case scenarios, an investment firm’s failure to identify and mitigate operational risk can result in significant direct costs and a devastating loss of Read the rest of this entry »

Filed under: Hedge Fund / Alternative Investment Management, Operational Risk, Operations, Press Release, Published Article, Technology, Traditional Investment Management, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Operational Risk #8: Reconciliation Gaps—A False Sense of Security

Reconciliation GapsWe’re sorry—the article you are looking for is no longer available on our website.  However, it is included in our book, The Top Ten Operational Risks: A Survival Guide for Investment Management Firms and Hedge Funds.  Purchase your paperback copy or Kindle version!

Filed under: Hedge Fund / Alternative Investment Management, Operational Risk, Operations, Traditional Investment Management, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Operational Risk #6: Playbooks—Workflow Documentation

We’re sorry—the article you are looking for is no longer available on our website.  However, it is included in our book, The Top Ten Operational Risks: A Survival Guide for Investment Management Firms and Hedge Funds.  Purchase your paperback copy or Kindle version!

Filed under: Hedge Fund / Alternative Investment Management, Operational Risk, Operations, Traditional Investment Management, , , , , , , , , ,

Operational Risk #5: Naïve Reliance on Technology—The Downside of Automation

Click to Read Typed Note

We’re sorry—the article you are looking for is no longer available on our website.  However, it is included in our book, The Top Ten Operational Risks: A Survival Guide for Investment Management Firms and Hedge Funds.  Purchase your paperback copy or Kindle version!

Filed under: Hedge Fund / Alternative Investment Management, Operational Risk, Operations, Technology, Trading and Order Management, Traditional Investment Management, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Operational Risk #4: Dropped Batons—Hand-offs

We’re sorry—the article you are looking for is no longer available on our website.  However, it is included in our book, The Top Ten Operational Risks: A Survival Guide for Investment Management Firms and Hedge Funds.  Purchase your paperback copy or Kindle version!

Filed under: Hedge Fund / Alternative Investment Management, Operational Risk, Operations, , , , , , , , ,

Top 10 Areas of Operational Risk for the Buy Side

Operational RiskWe’re sorry—the article you are looking for is no longer available on our website.  However, it is included in our book, The Top Ten Operational Risks: A Survival Guide for Investment Management Firms and Hedge Funds.  Purchase your paperback copy or Kindle version!

 

Filed under: Hedge Fund / Alternative Investment Management, Operational Risk, Operations, Traditional Investment Management, , , , , ,

Are You Making the Most of Your Technology?

Proper systems implementations always require a complete review of the relevant operational workflows. Likewise, effective systems training will focus on those same workflows. Yet all too often, investment management firms pay inadequate attention to designing and optimizing their operational flows and fail to harness the full capabilities of expensive, best-in-class applications.

These days, when it is critical to squeeze every last drop of value out of limited resources, firms cannot afford to ignore their processing efficiency any longer. And with all the heightened attention to operational risk, firms that fail to take a fresh look at workflows do so at their own peril. The good news is that re-examination of an organization’s operational efficiency usually has a very short payback period.

Read the rest of this entry »

Filed under: Hedge Fund / Alternative Investment Management, Operations, Traditional Investment Management, ,

Hedge Fund Transparency: The Long-Term Implications of Separate Account Management

paperworkHedge fund managers and investors alike have embraced separate account management as a panacea to their operational risk concerns and a quick win in the quest for greater transparency. But they should think again. In their rush to solve one set of problems, investors may be introducing even greater risks to their portfolios and hedge fund managers may be setting the stage for significant business challenges over the long term.

The Long-Term Implications of Separate Account Management

Read the attached excerpt from the February 2010 edition of the CFA Institute’s Investment Performance Measurement Newsletter.

Filed under: Hedge Fund / Alternative Investment Management, Managing the Business, Operations, Performance Measurement, Published Article, , , , , , , , , , ,

Critical Recordkeeping: Trade Tickets and Order Memoranda

It is remarkable the number of buy-side firms that have overlooked the importance of maintaining proper trade tickets and order memoranda in a timely fashion. Three weeks ago, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged New York-based Ark Asset Management Co., Inc. with fraudulent trade allocation as well as disclosure and books-and-records violations. This latter charge involved violations of Section 204 of the Advisers Act and Rule 204-2(a)(3) which requires registered investment advisers to make and keep true, accurate and current order memoranda for the purchase and sale of any security on behalf of a client.

Today many investment managers and hedge funds utilize electronic order management systems to track order creation, modification and deletion as well as trade execution details. These same systems typically will calculate order size, allocate block orders across multiple accounts and track trade execution details. Some more sophisticated systems will further perform pre- or post-trade compliance checks to ensure portfolios remain in compliance with client- or firm-imposed guidelines and restrictions, such as concentration limits or list restrictions (e.g., ‘no tobacco’).

Automated systems, however, can obfuscate for some just what is happening and the information required to ensure a firm remains in compliance with the recordkeeping requirement. Likewise, Rule 204-2(a)(3) is clear as mud for many. So we shall try to shed a little light on best practice for this aspect of maintaining books and records.
Read the rest of this entry »

Filed under: Hedge Fund / Alternative Investment Management, Operations, Trading and Order Management, Traditional Investment Management, , , , , , , , ,

Forgotten Risk: Free Delivery of Securities

SecuritiesWhile most operational due diligence reviews focus significant attention on the procedures involving wire transfers, they often overlook those surrounding the free delivery of securities. Yet both activities involve the transfer of assets out of a fund or portfolio with nothing received in exchange.
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Filed under: Hedge Fund / Alternative Investment Management, Operations, Traditional Investment Management, , , , , ,

Top 10 List for Mastering Operational Due Diligence

MicroscopeThis is from a presentation at Financial Technologies Forum’s 2nd Annual Hedge Fund and Operations Conference on 21 April 2009. While it is just a list of bullets, it is included here for the convenience of our readers.
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Filed under: Hedge Fund / Alternative Investment Management, Operations, Traditional Investment Management, , , , ,

Migrating Toward Multi-Prime: Did Your Manager Decrease or Increase Operational Risk?

Operational RiskIn the wake of the Bear Stearns and Lehman difficulties, many hedge fund managers have migrated toward a ‘multi-prime’ environment, in which more than one prime broker is utilized by the fund. On closer examination, a number of hedge funds have not only failed in their dual objectives of setting up a true multi-prime relationship and reducing their overall operational risk. Indeed, quite a few hedge fund firms have increased their operational risk without even realizing it. This article examines steps that hedge fund managers can take to achieve their objectives and enhance their operational risk profile.
Read the rest of this entry »

Filed under: Hedge Fund / Alternative Investment Management, Operations, , , , , ,

Operational Risk, Investor Communication and Requirements Survey

Please participate in our industry survey on operational risk, investor communication and requirements. The survey is open to investors, managers, custodians, prime brokers, fund administrators, auditors, software vendors, consultants, verifiers and all other industry participants. In appreciation for your time, participants will receive a summary report of survey results and will be entered into a drawing to win a flip camera. Additional details on the survey can be found here.

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