As the world of compliance in the investment advisory and broker-dealer spaces continues to evolve and the scope of required services expands, compliance professionals in the industry are leveraging technology and third-party vendors more than ever to meet the demands and expectations of the regulators. Partnering with reputable service providers is paramount to a successful, robust compliance program and allows firms to remain competitive and stay ahead of the curve.
Many firms find that by effectively vetting and aligning with third-party service providers, they’re demonstrating an additional layer of internal control and protection. The team at Core Compliance & Legal Services, Inc. (“Core Compliance”) regularly receives client inquiries seeking information regarding third-party resources to help enhance their compliance programs in the interest of business growth. In this month’s Risk Management Update, we are providing information regarding a number of diverse vendors that our clients have used in one capacity or another over the years. These firms are unique and boast their own specific business and service models, which in turn, leads to different experiences from one firm to the next. Therefore, it is essential that investment firms conduct their own vendor due diligence in a thorough manner prior to engagement and periodically throughout the course of the engagement.
We would also like to take this opportunity to remind industry participants of the SEC’s proposed rule regarding outsourcing and service provider due diligence (Rule 206(4)-11). To learn more about this pending rule and the potential impact that it may have on your business, please reach out to Core Compliance at (619) 278-0020 or schedule a call here.
Compliance Technology Solutions
Orion ComplianceTM – Orion Compliance™ delivers a simple, centralized compliance platform, enabling compliance personnel to focus on high-risk areas while meeting critical regulatory and documentation requirements. The dashboard-driven system consists of a flexible menu including compliance calendar customization, testing, certifications and attestations, gifts and entertainment monitoring, risk assessments, form builder tool, personal trading, whistleblower, and document library management.
www.orionadvisortech.com / (678) 819-1991
MyComplianceOffice – MyComplianceOffice (MCO) provides a software system for compliance requirements and employee trading activity management, as well as task management and workflow, compliance calendar building, attestation management, disclosure management, gifts and entertainment monitoring, case and document management, risk management and more.
www.mycomplianceoffice.com / (866) 951-2280
Paragon Data Labs – Compliance Administration & Tracking (CAT) is a cloud-based enterprise software platform developed and serviced by Paragon Data Labs to streamline employee compliance for financial services firms. CAT makes compliance simple for employers and employees with a centralized platform integrating Personal Trading Oversight, Employee Disclosures, and Material Non-Public Information Management for automated monitoring and robust firm-wide analysis and visualizations.
https://www.paragondatalabs.com/solution / 833-736-2009
Custodians
Charles Schwab | Advisor Services – Charles Schwab Advisor Services (Schwab) offers Registered Investment Advisors three things: experience, partnership and investment. Schwab knows that firms value their independence but crave advocacy. Within their custodial services Schwab offers RIAs support, service, technology, access to tools and products, education and training, and more.
advisorservices.schwab.com / (877) 687-4085
Fidelity | Fidelity Institutional SM– Fidelity acknowledges that operating in today’s industry requires the right tools, resources, and support to drive future results. With Fidelity Institutional℠, firms have access to innovative technology and dedicated service to help evolve their business.
clearingcustody.fidelity.com / (877) 262-5950
Interactive Brokers – Interactive Brokers (IBKR) services make them a gateway to the world’s markets. Their services include multiple trading products and tools, custom trading technologies and platforms, and more.
www.interactivebrokers.com / (707) 559-3258
TD Ameritrade | TD Ameritrade Institutional – In combination with Schwab Advisor Services, TD Institutional offers Registered Investment Advisors a comprehensive approach to service. Aimed to innovate and break new ground in order to help promote growth, they offer RIAs support, connection and networking, technology (iRebal® and thinkpipes®), industry insight and training, and more.
www.tdainstitutional.com / (877) 687-4085
Continuing Education/Compliance Certifications/Training
FINRA Institute at Georgetown (CRCP)® Certification – The FINRA Institute at Georgetown Certified Regulatory and Compliance Professional (CRCP)® program provides compliance, legal and regulatory professionals with an in-depth understanding of the foundation, theory and practical application of securities laws and regulation.
www.finra.org / (301) 590-6500
National Society of Compliance Professionals: Certified Securities Compliance Professional (CSCP) Certification – A CSCP designation distinguishes individuals with intermediate to advanced proficiency and a commitment to advancing securities compliance practices. The focus of the course will be on Securities and Exchange Commission and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority regulated financial services firms with a particular emphasis on Investment Advisers and Broker Dealers.
nscp.org/about-cscp / (860) 672-0843
Quest CE – Quest CE offers compliance education and training opportunities for the financial services industry. In addition to offering continuing education (“CE”) for professionals holding insurance licenses and professional designations like the CFP, CPA, CIMA and CLU/CHFC designations, Quest CE also provides a complete spectrum of compliance training solutions.
www.questce.com/course-catalog (414) 375-3400
RegEd, Inc. – RegEd boasts a comprehensive course catalog covering a variety of industry topics and educational needs, including annual compliance meetings, needs analysis, training plans, tracking and reporting, firm element CE, insurance CE, exam preparation licensing training with exam preparation self-study, and online practice exams.
www.reged.com / (800) 334-8322
Securities Training Corporation® – The Securities Training Corporation (STC)® offers securities CE, securities licensing, insurance CE, and insurance pre-licensing and exam preparation licensing training in a classroom or self-study format. Their offerings are aimed for professionals looking to start a career in financial services or insurance, with their wide range of study products designed to prepare.
www.stcusa.com / (800) 782-1223
Electronic Books & Records Solutions
Broadcom Inc. – Broadcom® offers a comprehensive portfolio of identity-centric data loss prevention for IT security professionals. Broadcom offers a variety of technology solutions to protect all types of sensitive information and assets to help minimize accidental, negligent, and malicious misuse of data, as well as to help you remain compliant with regulations, corporate policies and reduce overall business risk.
www.broadcom.com / (800) 225-5224
Bloomberg Vault – As part of Bloomberg professional services, Bloomberg Vault is a cloud-based information management services that delivers compliance, eDiscovery, and enterprise archiving by leveraging the scalability and reliability of Bloomberg’s global infrastructure, which distributes up to 250 million daily messages and manages more than 70 billion archived records on behalf of Bloomberg Vault subscribers.
www.bloomberg.com / (212) 617-6580
Electronic Mail Archiving & Surveillance Tools
Global Relay® – Growing up with the financial industry, Global Relay offers scalable messaging services that provide the foundation for mail management, compliance, eDiscovery and business continuity. Ask a Core Compliance consultant about preferential pricing available to Core Compliance clients.
www.globalrelay.com / (604) 484-6630
Intradyn – Understanding the industry is overrun with options, Intradyn is a recognized archiving leader in the eDiscovery and email archiving markets, producing leading edge products for businesses, organizations, & governments.
www.intradyn.com / (651) 203-4600
Smarsh – Smarsh offers companies their approach to capture, store, and monitor their communications, specializing in email and instant message archiving, WORM Optical Storage, attachment archiving, virus protections, review and reporting tools, and spam filtering.
www.smarsh.com / (866) SMARSH 1 & (503) 946-5980
Errors & Omissions (E&O) Insurance
Chubb – As a global provider of insurance products, they provide solutions and coverage for property and casualty, accident and health, reinsurance, and life insurance and the largest publicly traded property and casualty company in the world.
www.chubb.com / (866) 324-8222
Marsh McLennan – Marsh McLennan is a global risk and insurance service firm, providing coverage for a variety of exposures, including crisis management, mergers and acquisitions, business continuity and operational risk.
www.mmc.com/solutions / (212) 345-6750
Starkweather & Shepley Insurance, Brokerage Inc. – Starkweather & Shepley offers a full range of cost-effective commercial insurance and risk management solutions, including a variety of financial insurance, risk management, and related services worldwide.
www.starshep.com/services / (800) 854-4625
GIPS® Verification and Performance Services
CAPS Inc. – CAPS provides a unique approach to investment data organization and analytics by designing and deploying unparalleled software solutions, specifically a GIPS® composite and management reporting workflow software solution for GIPS compliance and reporting.
www.capsinc.com / (407) 930-3590
Deloitte – As a multiservice company, Deloitte a comprehensive suite of services to a multitude of industries, some of which include audit, tax, consultant and financial advisory services, including GIPS® verifications.
www.deloitte.com / (213) 688-0800
Private Fund Administration
Hedge Solutions, Inc. – Hedge Solutions provides specialized accounting services for fund structure or investment strategy, and offers consolidated online investor access to key information, reporting and documents in a protected and secure environment.
www.hedgesolutions.com / (603) 644-3343
Opus Fund Services, LLC – Opus Fund Service provides hedge fund administration, including fund accounting/NAV calculations, partner allocations, and year-end reporting services – regardless of complexity or fund size.
www.opusfundservices.com / (312) 256-9974
SS&C Technologies Holdings, Inc. – SS&C Technologies Holdings (NASDAQ: SSNC) provides fund administration services for hedge funds, fund of funds, private equity funds and managed account managers. SS&C also offers back office, middle office, and front office software for alternatives investment managers.
www.ssctech.com / (800) 234-0556
Private Fund Auditing Firms
EisnerAmper, LLP – As a global firm serving a broad spectrum of financial services and high net worth clients, EisnerAmper offers a full range of audit, accounting, taxation, and consulting services. Hedge fund advisory services include hedge fund audit and tax services as well as support for fund of funds, multi-strategy funds, and PIPES.
www.eisneramper.com / (415) 357-4216
KPMG, LLP – With their worldwide presence, KPMG is an international firm that provides audit, tax and advisory services and industry insight to help organizations negotiate risks and perform in the dynamic and challenging environments in which they do business.
www.kpmg.us/ / (858) 750-7100
Marcum, LLP – As a national accounting and advisory services firm, Marcum provides consulting, tax and auditing services for private equity partnerships, hedge funds, off-shore funds, registered investment advisers, and real estate funds, in addition to traditional accounting, assurance and tax, including domestic and international tax planning.
www.marcumllp.com / (212) 485-5510
HR Administration Support
ADP® – ADP offers HR administration and technology solutions for the internal workings of your firm. On top of AI automation solutions, their services include HR services, talent acquisition, time and attendance monitoring, benefits administration, payroll maintenance and more.
www.adp.com / (877) 532-0136
Coastal Payroll® – Coastal Payroll specializes in human capital management, which includes Human Resources, Benefits Administration, Time and Attendance, and more. Their suite of offerings also includes payroll, time keeping, talent acquisition, benefits, human resources, and custom integrations for your specific business.
www.coastalpayroll.com / (858) 565-2123
Paychex® – Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ: PAYX) is a provider of integrated human capital management solutions for payroll, benefits, human resources, and insurance services. Paychex also offers an all-in-one HR software, which is customizable and scalable to any growing business.
www.paychex.com / (833) 729-8200
TriNet Professional Services – TriNet offers HR administration expertise including payroll processing, risk mitigation, and expense management solutions. TriNet allows your business the opportunity to offload administrative tasks and paperwork associated with HR functions.
www.trinet.com / (941) 744-3445
Portfolio Accounting and Trade Management Systems
Charles River Investment Management Systems – Charles River provides the industry with a unique approach, including their Charles Rive Investment Management Solution (Charles River IMS). Their platform provides software, hosting, and data services to automate front and middle office investment operations for buy-side firms. On-premises software solutions support portfolio management, compliance and risk monitoring, access to global liquidity, and trade processing.
www.crd.com / (781) 238-0099
SS&C | EZE – As one of the many solutions offered by SS&C Technologies, EZE provides comprehensive technology solutions to broker dealers, hedge funds, institutional asset managers, mutual funds, pension funds and wealth managers.
www.ezesoft.com / (617) 316-1000
SS&C | Advent – Another offering provided through SS&C Technologies, Advent offers innovative investment management solutions that integrate portfolio accounting, reporting, performance analytics, and client relationship management, effectively linking portfolio managers, operations, and client service staff on a single database platform.
www.advent.com / (800) 727-0605
Envestnet | Tamarac® – As a division of Envestnet® (NYSE:ENV) offers scalable web-based portfolio management technology that enables investment managers to provide customized, tax-efficient, individual account management to a multitude of clients.
www.tamaracinc.com / (866) 525-8811
Proxy Voting Services
Broadridge Financial Solutions – Broadridge provides infrastructure solutions that empower corporate governance, capital markets and wealth and investment management through their supplies tools to help manage proxy votes, keep records, and maintain compliance.
www.broadridge.com / (800) 353-0103
Glass Lewis and Co. – As a provider of independent global governance services, Glass Lewis helps institutional investors understand and connect with the companies in which they invest. Some of their offerings include Viewpoint, a vote management platform, and Proxy Paper, a Research reports with analysis and recommendation on every proxy vote, including M&A and other financial transactions.
www.glasslewis.com / (415) 678-4110
Cybersecurity: Vulnerability Assessments & Penetration Testing
Altius IT – Altius IT is a security audit company with certified auditors to help firms meet their security and compliance requirements. Their unique approach to cybersecurity includes IT audits and penetration testing, privacy and compliance audits, mobile application security, and website security testing.
www.altiusit.com / (714) 794-5210
Secureworks® | TaegisTM – As a product from Secureworks, Taegis a cloud-native security analytics platform built on 20+ years of real-world threat intelligence and research, improves your ability to detect advanced threats, streamline and collaborate on investigations, and automate the right actions.
www.secureworks.com / (877) 838-7947
Xantrion – Xantrion provides enterprise-grade IT services to midsized businesses. Their custom offerings include IT roadmaps, IT support, proactive monitoring, backup and recovery services, security services, cloud strategy, and more.
www.xantrion.com / (510) 272-4701
Cybersecurity and CCO Liability Insurance
National Associate of Professional Agents – National Associate of Professional Agents (NAPA) insurance programs provides small businesses and independent contractors with coverage to help protect against the financial burden created by a data breach.
www.napa-benefits.org / (800) 593-7657
Starkweather & Shepley Insurance, Brokerage Inc – Starkweather & Shepley’s preferred carrier for cyber liability insurance is Lloyd’s of London. Since cyber liability insurance is not standardized it is important to work with a good agent to help define the coverage needed and negotiate the terms. The cost will vary widely depending on the coverage.
www.starshep.com / (401) 435-3600
The Hartford – The Hartford helps businesses prepare for a cyber breach by providing a suite of comprehensive, flexible coverages that respond to the ever-expanding list of cyber threats.
www.thehartford.com / (866) 467-8730
Windermere Insurance Group – Windermere Insurance understands the exposures and inherent risks that threaten your business and personal assets. They aim to help businesses prepare for a cyber breach by providing a suite of comprehensive, flexible coverages that respond to the ever-expanding list of cyber threats.
https://windinsgroup.com / (704) 247-3038
For more information, please contact us at info@corecls.com, at (619) 278-0020 or visit us at www.corecls.com.
Core Compliance works extensively with investment advisers, broker-dealers, investment companies, hedge funds, private equity firms and banks on regulatory compliance issues.
This article is for information purposes and does not contain or convey legal or tax advice. The information herein should not be relied upon in regard to any particular facts or circumstances without first consulting with a lawyer and/or tax professional.