Effective 31 May 2011, Stone House Consulting is closing its doors. Please click here to read a copy of the letter we sent to clients with additional information.
Trade Matching in the Traditional and Alternative Markets
Pressures from investors and regulators are accelerating the pace of convergence in traditional and alternative asset management organizations and improving standards of practice. At present, in the traditional asset management arena, managers’ and brokers’ records are generally compared on a trade-by-trade basis and custodians are authorized by the managers to settle matched transactions. In the hedge fund world, prime brokers, often serving as both trading counterparty and custodian, either settle trades without any affirmation or issue the affirmation on behalf of the manager. After tracing the historical development of these two de facto industry standards, Stone House Consulting partner Holly Miller comments on the role of the administrator, illustrates how the absence of trade matching increases hedge fund managers’ costs, explores why the hedge fund industry has accepted an error-prone process, and outlines a resolution. Read the full article published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Securities Operations & Custody here.
Verifying the Verifier
How does one go about selecting a firm to verify their claim of compliance with the Global Investment Performance Standards? Stone House Consulting partners Philip Lawton and Holly Miller discussed this topic during a recent webinar hosted by FTF News held on March 16th. Highlights from the webinar were covered in an article by Securities Technology Monitor. A recorded version of the webinar is still available. Click here for more information.
Overview of the Global Investment Performance Standards
CFA Institute has made this copyrighted paper, used in the 2011 CFA™ and CIPM® curricula, available gratis to all. Written by Stone House Consulting partner, Philip Lawton, the reading presents the requirements and recommendations of the 2010 version of the GIPS® standards and explains the rationale and application of specific provisions, with particular attention to implementation issues.
IT/Ops Cooperation, Investor Communication and Social Media
In part two of FTF News’ Q&A with Holly Miller, Stone House Consulting’s founding partner, discusses how to get IT and operations to work together effectively, the survey on investor communication and operational risk that Stone House is conducting with Infonic AG and innovative ways buy-side firms can leverage social media. Part one of the Q&A is here.
Managing the Increased Risks Associated with Outsourcing
Stone House Consulting provides 15 practical suggestions for managing the increased risks that may be introduced by outsourcing. This slideshow was presented on Wednesday, 2 March 2011 at the 5th Annual OpRisk Conference in New York by Holly Miller, founding partner of Stone House Consulting.
Corporate Governance and Operational Risk
In her opening remarks as chair of the 5th Annual OpRisk Conference in NYC today, Stone House Consulting founding partner, Holly Miller, discusses the link between corporate governance and operational risk.
Investors’ IT Savvy, STP and the Cloud
In advance of chairing tomorrow’s 5th Annual OpRisk Conference in New York, Stone House Consulting’s founding partner, Holly Miller, is interviewed by Eugene Grygo of FTF News in a two-part series. Read what she has to say in this first conversation about the role IT plays during investor due diligence, hidden risks in straight-through processing (STP) and how managers can use cloud computing to reduce operational risk. Read the article.
10 Operational Risks to Watch For
Securities Technology Monitor features a terrific slide show on Stone House Consulting’s new book, The Top Ten Operational Risks: A Survival Guide for Investment Managers and Hedge Funds.
Stone House Consulting Releases its First Book–THE TOP TEN OPERATIONAL RISKS: A SURVIVAL GUIDE FOR INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT FIRMS AND HEDGE FUNDS
Press Contacts:
Deborah Eisenberg / Matthew Chisum
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- Advanced Praise Offered by Leading Industry Executives including Bruce J. Feibel, CFA, Managing Director, BNY Mellon and Bill Bogle, Partner and Chief Compliance Officer, NEPC LLC
- Available Now in Paperback and Electronically via Amazon Kindle
Thornton, Penn. – December 13, 2010 – Stone House Consulting, LLC, today announced the release of its first book entitled THE TOP TEN OPERATIONAL RISKS: A SURVIVAL GUIDE FOR INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT FIRMS AND HEDGE FUNDS. Written by the firm’s founding partner, Holly Miller, and partner Philip Lawton, the work is a collection of essays that draws upon extensive practical experience to offer clear and compelling advice to recognize and decrease the risk of loss due to inadequate internal processes, people and systems or external events.
“In the wake of the global financial crisis, asset management firms are paying more attention, not only to investment risk management, but also to oversight of the operational risks that come with day-to-day activities like portfolio valuation. Stone House Consulting’s book contains timely and thought-provoking essays of current interest to operations and technology managers,” said Bruce J. Feibel, CFA, Managing Director, BNY Mellon.
Starting with complacency on the part of senior management, each of this book’s central chapters addresses one of the ways in which investment management firms may be exposed to unwelcome surprises. Other chapters focus on technology, workflows and aspects of the segregation of duties that are especially significant in the investment management industry, such as observing the distinction between the firm and the funds it manages.
The authors additionally bring their experience to bear on reconciliation gaps, the importance of knowing the firm’s counterparties and the regulatory regimes to which they are answerable, and the challenges of effective strategic planning in a rapidly changing marketplace.
“In worst-case scenarios, an investment firm’s failure to identify and mitigate operational risk can result in significant direct costs and a devastating loss of Continue reading “Stone House Consulting Releases its First Book–THE TOP TEN OPERATIONAL RISKS: A SURVIVAL GUIDE FOR INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT FIRMS AND HEDGE FUNDS”
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