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Maples Fund Services
e have been a client of Maples Fund Services for nearly
“ Wa decade and greatly value and appreciate our relationship with them ,” says a client . “ Their people are very professional and provide high-quality service , their work is accurate , and they are responsive to our questions on a timely basis .” A second client praises a “ diligent and responsive team .” The score for client service in general is commensurately robust and even better in terms of consistency across locations . Consistency matters because Maples is not just independent but a truly global administrator , operating from a further nine jurisdictions in addition to its native Cayman Islands . Understandably , the firm aims to deliver it . The firm also collects a handsome set of scores for its fund accounting services . “ We have never had an error in NAV , once finalised ,” notes one client . A second adds that “ we have not had any issues in terms of timeliness and accuracy .” In the other core service area of investor services , Maples also shines . “ Maples has worked with management and investors to satisfy the regulatory requirements while being flexible and responsive ,” is the verdict of one user of the service . In the linked area of KYC , AML and sanctions screening due diligence , a client appreciates the fact that “ Maples KYC and AML teams update management re [ garding ] changes and correspond with our investors and regulatory agencies [ in a ] timely [ manner ].” On the reporting side , the firm wins plaudits . “ Accurate and timely reporting ,” writes a client . “ Responsive to management and investor requests ; knowledgeable of the industry and associated rules and regulations and flexible in terms of ad-hoc deliverables .” The score for interactions with auditors (“ Our auditors are satisfied with the record keeping provided to assist in their audit of our financial statements ”) is outstanding , but the enthusiasm of the comments and the scoring wane as respondents assess other kinds of reporting . “ Maples web portal satisfies our needs in terms of monthly NAV reporting and investor reporting ” is the dull verdict of one manager on reporting to managers . Another client says of reporting to investors that “ Maples has promptly distributed communications to our investors on a one-off basis when requested and has done so exactly as we requested .” However , one respondent is impressed by the regulatory reporting . “ It has been very smooth for our regulatory reporting , including FATCA and CRS ,” he writes . “ Maples has been very helpful to provide bi-weekly and now monthly reports for us to track our investors ’ outstanding documents for KYC / CRS etc . [ We ] much appreciated their dedicated work about our fund .” There is praise also for the “ depositary-lite ” service that Maples developed to help managers distributing funds in Europe under the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive ( AIFMD ). “ Maples handles our investor depositary services to the satisfaction of management and investors ,” writes a user of it . The firm is now planning other new services . One client would like the plans to include capital-raising (“ It would be good if Maples had a capital introduction effort ”), but Maples will be mindful of the need not to test the satisfaction of its small and mid-sized clients with the current level of fees (“ Maples fees are fair and in line with industry practice ”) or put the quality of its existing services at risk . “ Maples Fund Services is an excellent administrator , and we are very happy with services provided , cost , and the team assigned to our fund ,” is the advice issued by one client .
By size
92 %
8 %
Weighted average scores
PROFILE OF RESPONDENTS
Large Medium Small
58 %
By location
2016 2017 2018 5.77 5.96 5.88
Weighted average scores by service area Service area
Weighted average score
Client service 6.03 0.2 % On-boarding 5.66 -1.0 % Fund accounting 6.27 1.0 % Investor services 6.11 0.8 % Reporting to investors 5.78 -4.0 % Reporting to managers 5.44 -7.1 % Reporting to regulators 5.71 -5.1 % Reporting to the tax authorities 5.63 -5.8 % Reporting to auditors 6.29 3.3 % KYC , AML and sanctions screening 5.52 -8.5 % Depositary services 6.05 0.9 %
4 %
38 %
Corporate secretarial services N / A N / A Middle office services 6.79 15.7 % Banking services N / A N / A Operations 5.95 -2.8 % Cyber-security 6.37 6.4 % Price 5.76 -1.0 % Total 5.88 -1.8 %
Americas Europe and Middle East Asia
+/ - the global average
The Hedge Fund Annual 2018 globalcustodian . com 63