FundRock Deploys Zeidler’s Counterparty Due Diligence Solution

FundRock, a leading independent UCITS Management Company and Alternative Investment Fund Manager (AIFM), has deployed Zeidler Group’s counterparty due diligence solution for monitoring its counterparties such as investment managers, distributors and central administrators.

Zeidler assists management companies and asset managers with the whole fund life cycle including setting up of investment funds, global fund registrations in 45 jurisdictions, counterparty due diligence, KIID production and management, and other ongoing fund distribution related legal and compliance matters. The due dilligence service includes bespoke questionnaires for different counterparties, automated risk ratings, as well as autofill and pre-population features.

Matteo Sbrolla, Director Investment Management and Distribution Oversight at FundRock, said: “Conducting due diligence on our clients and counterparties has been a long established practice at FundRock. However, with our firm’s rapid growth and client base expansion over the past few years, the due diligence process – including sending questionnaires, collecting answers, analyzing responses and building reports – had become a very time-consuming task. We were looking at how to bring efficiencies into this process and found that Zeidler’s solution was the most compelling proposition. The fact that Zeidler’s solution is flexible and can be used for different types of counterparties is extremely important. We are now using Zeidler’s solution to conduct initial and ongoing due diligence on hundreds of our clients and counterparties. We are already seeing the benefits of this solution – faster responses from clients and counterparties and greater efficiency for our teams due to the user-friendly, automated set up of the process.”

Arne Zeidler, Founder and Managing Director at the Zeidler Group, commented: “We launched our counterparty due diligence service in response to client frustrations with the existing solutions available. This is amid the increasing focus from regulators on oversight of the distribution and counterparty network. What we are offering to management companies and asset managers is the combination of a law firm and innovative technology at an extremely attractive fee. We have made it easier and faster for both our clients and their counterparties to complete due diligence requirements allowing them to use their resources more effectively. We are very happy to be working with FundRock. They are one of the largest third-party management companies in Europe and this has resulted in additional hundreds of counterparties across the world using our due diligence tool.

“The counterparty due diligence module is another addition to our “Super-App” for all the legal and compliance requirements that management companies and asset managers have”, Zeidler added.

Jim Ha, Head of Due Diligence Services at the Zeidler Group, added: “We appreciate that due diligence can be a painful experience for both fund management companies and counterparties. Many management companies are looking for a bespoke and cost-effective solution. We believe that clients can benefit greatly from using our counterparty due diligence module and streamline their due diligence processes across counterparties. We are really pleased to have FundRock onboard as one of our clients. Over the last few months, we have collaborated with various teams at FundRock and, thanks to some great feedback and suggestions from them, we have introduced new features and major
improvements. The enhancements to our tool have also benefited our other clients and their counterparties. We look forward to continuing to improve the tool with FundRock’s support.”