A multi-boutique investment manager headquartered in London with offices in Edinburgh and Boston, our client, BennBridge, provides a holistic support framework for boutique investment teams. Established in 2017, BennBridge currently have four investment boutiques under management, with assets totalling approximately US$1.7 billion. The firm began using FundApps’ Shareholding Disclosure platform in 2019, when their rapid growth led them to look for a best-in-class solution with global rule coverage.
The combination of the Rule Commentary functionality, the explanation from FundApps and the detail provided about the rules from aosphere provides our business with a reliable solution that we can continue to use as our business grows.
Ben Battye, COO, BennBridge (US$1.7 Billion AuM)
The Challenge
BennBridge had previously built a disclosure reporting solution from their Order Management System. This was a manual process involving the receipt of an email each morning to inform them of any thresholds that had been breached. The system was not easily adaptable to regulation changes, which made it too risky to manage the global strategies of their investment boutiques.
To eliminate this risk they began looking for an automated Shareholding Disclosure service that could take into account the complexities of regulatory frameworks around the world. The firm was aware that as they began to partner with more boutiques their reporting requirements would increase in complexity. To prepare for this, they were also looking for a service that could automate the regulatory requirements for long disclosures in global equity markets.
The Solution
In their search for global rule coverage in one centralised, automated service, BennBridge was recommended FundApps.
The investment manager was particularly impressed by our partnership with aosphere (an affiliate of Allen & Overy). As the first software vendor to license aoshere’s Rulefinder content for Shareholding Disclosure, we have now created a global repository of over 400 disclosure rules in 100+ jurisdictions. Our in-house team of regulatory experts source the latest regulatory information required to update and maintain our rules, so our clients don’t need to worry about being experts in the jurisdictions themselves.
The ability for our managed service to pre-populate disclosure forms was another key driver in BennBridge’s decision to choose FundApps. This functionality takes away the manual effort of having to keep on top of the various form requirements for all of the different jurisdictions around the world. BennBridge also anticipate that this functionality will provide them with time savings in the future, as they start disclosing in new regions.
Our client particularly likes the Rule Commentary functionality in our Shareholding Disclosure service. Part of the Community element of the FundApps platform, Rule Commentary provides our clients with a secure forum to engage in discussion and get answers from other compliance experts as well as the FundApps team.
The Result
Described by BennBridge as a “seamless process”, they were able to quickly get up and running with our Shareholding Disclosure service.
They have been particularly impressed with the level of support that they have received, both through the onboarding process and afterwards. We have dedicated account managers who are specialists in the regulatory space and passionate about going above and beyond to provide the best experience possible. Our account managers are located around the world, enabling us to respond to any query quickly and keep our average first response time consistently under one hour.
Ben Battye, COO, BennBridge, explains; “the responsiveness of FundApps’ support team is the best I’ve seen; it is astonishing how quickly they answer our queries. FundApps’ focus on account management is also exceptional. They manage to achieve the perfect balance of being hands off and hands on.”
Since using the system, our client has found the interface very simple to use and easy to train other team members on. They really like the way in which the interface immediately notifies you of any required disclosures, making it easy to see where your risks are and what requires your attention. This is particularly important to them as the different needs of their various boutiques renders our client’s business exceptionally complex.
