Issue 7 2020

Jun20420 “Launching a new hedge fund or even maintaining an emerging fund can appear a daunting task, especially when considering the wave of regulatory requirements and investors scrutiny for operational transparency. There are opportunities for fund managers to tick all the boxes without getting bogged down in procedures, thanks to service providers like Linear that can provide institutional expertise, especially for smaller funds below $100m.” Linear Investments: UK’s Most Trusted Hedge Fund Incubator 2020 Linear Investments brings together the skills and expertise that start up hedge funds need, within an integrated platform solution. Linear’s approach can significantly reduce operational costs and get a fund to market faster and more efficiently than a more traditional solution. Linear achieves this by integrating: Capital Introduction, Prime Brokerage and Custody Services, Discretionary Fund Management, Execution via DMA and Trading Desk, Middle/Back Office Operations as well as a Regulatory Umbrella. Start-up funds are able to select from a menu of the Linear services or take the package as a whole for maximum speed and efficiency. Launching a new hedge fund or even maintaining an emerging fund can appear a daunting task, especially when considering the wave of regulatory requirements and investors scrutiny for operational transparency. There are opportunities for fund managers to tick all the boxes without getting bogged down in procedures, thanks to service providers like Linear that can provide institutional expertise, especially for smaller funds below $100m. It is more important than ever before for hedge fund managers to ensure that they utilise a full spectrum of service providers so they can bring independent expertise to a fund’s overall operations. Many of the key components of running a start-up fund can and should be more effectively outsourced to allow the fund to focus on the core investment decisions. Take raising capital; getting in front of numerous potential investors is a difficult and time- consuming process. Working with a specialist who will be marketing for multiple clients will give a significantly greater reach and access to the right target market. Outsourcing your execution desk is also an obvious target for cost saving and ease of doing business. The tech required in-house alongside potential access to better rates and more brokers means considering a business like Linear with a ready- made solution makes sense. As the regulatory burden gets more onerous and complex, looking to build a partnership with an outsourced regulatory umbrella is good sense. It is essential that you have a strong compliance function and capability to deal with the regulatory reporting and management requirements, not to mention appropriate capital. This function is frequently outsourced to specialists such as Linear who can wrap these services into a package under the PB structure which can be very cost effective for a smaller fund. Using an AR structure under a larger regulated entity’s umbrella can significantly reduce the overall authorisation process too for a new fund; in some cases down to as little as 6 weeks. The fund can then migrate to their own regulatory structure in due course, whilst focussing on building a great track record in the meantime. At Linear we spend a significant proportion of the overall due diligence process on new managers going through the intricate stages behind every trade. In this regard Linear is able to help its clients identify each stage and ensure that careful consideration has been given to establish an institutional approach to fund management from launch. There are very few offerings as extensive in nature as Linear Investments’ platform which brings all of these elements together under one roof. The platform is fundamentally the most valuable asset and tool you could adopt to ensure success in establishing or growing your fund. Linear operates from London and Hamburg, with additional offices in the City of London and Dubai. If you would like to know more about Linear’s start up hedge fund proposition, please contact [email protected] Issue 7 2020 9