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Advise Technologies, LLC, a software solutions provider for global regulatory compliance, today announced landmark 12-month growth. Advise recordedsignificant new client gains across the U.S. fueled by demand for its proven solutions, including its Consensus RMS suite of regulatory reporting tools. A majority of first-round Form PF filers in the industry successfully filed using Advise’s Consensus RMS suite in July/August, and again in October/November.
In response to this demand and to help private funds prepare for the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD),Advise plans to open an office in Europe in 2013. The company continues to add global sales and support staff as investment advisory firms turn to Advise to automate their compliance processes and prepare for emerging reporting requirements such as CPO-PQR, CTA-PR and FATCA.
Other key Advise 2012 milestones include:
- Recognition as “Best Buy-Side Newcomer” and “Best Buy-Side Product” at the Buy-Side TechnologyAwards 2012.
- Appointment of Sean Sullivan as President, to oversee client growth throughout the United States and Europe. A 20-year industry veteran, Sullivan most recently served as Executive Vice President and Head of Global Sales for Eze Castle Software, LLC, a BNY ConvergEx company.
- July 15, 2012, and August 29, 2012, marked the first deadlines for registered investment advisers of over $5 billion in liquidity fund RAUM and hedge fund RAUM, respectively, to file Form PF with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The majority of these first round filers did so using Advise’s Consensus RMS platform. The Consensus RMS suite features an advanced calculation engine, automated data input, error-checking, workflow and permissioning controls, standard and custom reports, audit trail, and extensive data storage. The remaining SEC-registered advisers must start filing in 2013.
- Launch of the CPO-PQR module for Consensus RMS,to enable CPOs to interpret, aggregate and normalize pool data from disparate sources in one centralized location in order to complete the form. The first deadline for Form CPO-PQR was November 29, 2012, when CPOs with greater than $5 billion in RAUM filed for the quarter ending September 30, 2012.
- Launch of a hosted version of the Consensus RMS suite on the scalable, secure AbacusFLEX private cloud and a partnership with Paladyne, part of Broadridge Financial Solutions, to offer Consensus RMS to their clients. Consensus RMS customers are now able to locally deploy the software or take advantage of a hosted solution, providing them with the flexibility to choose which best suits their needs and structure.
- Significant momentum on-boarding new clients to Advise’s document management system, Vault DMS, which can help firms locate, track and automate key documents to help ensure preparedness for the SEC examinations, including the newly introduced “National Exam Program” (NEP) and other regulatory scrutiny. Administered by the Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE), NEP examinations for newly registered investment advisors will take place over the next two years.
- Release of a FATCA solution for private fund managers and their service providers. The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) imposes record-keeping, reporting, and other requirements on certain funds and is slated to take effect in 2013.
- Notable client growth throughout the United States, leading to the opening of an expanded office in New York and five times expansion of staff.
“Advise’s growth has accelerated over the past year as new regulatory requirements have become the norm for the investment advisory industry,” said Doug Schwenk, CEO of Advise. “As filing deadlines continue to compound for Form PF, CPO-PQR/CTA-PR, AIFMD, FATCA and others that have yet to be finalized, investment advisers need solutions they can trust to reduce the pain and potential for error that are associated with manual reporting processes.”
Developed by hedge fund industry professionals, Advise’sConsensus RMS suite of regulatory reporting solutions enables firms to interpret, aggregate and normalize data from disparate sources to electronically submit regulatory filings, including Form PF.The firm also provides a complete document management system, calledVault DMS, which helps locate, track and automate key documents and prepare for regulatory examinations.
