2nd Annual Cayman Islands Conference: Hedge Fund Best Practices
Ritz Carlton, Cayman Islands.
Golf tournament
Blue Tip Golf Course - This Greg Norman Signature designed 9-hole, 3516 yard “Caribbean Monster” will provide a challenging and enjoyable round to golfers of all skill levels. Golfers will complete 2 rounds. Water will come into play on 8 of 9 holes with a dramatic island green par 3 finish. Blue Tip’s yardage ranges from 2650 to 3516 yards and offers varied lines of play and forced carries.
Registration
Welcome cocktail reception - Sponsored by the Bermuda International Business Association (BIBA)
Continental breakfast, registration, and exhibits
The Honorable Kenneth Jefferson JP, ACA, Financial Secretary for the Cayman Islands Government
Mr. Kenneth Jefferson, JP was appointed Financial Secretary to head the Portfolio of Finance and Economics on 1 November 2004.
As third Official Member of the Legislative Assembly and Cabinet, he has overall responsibility for all aspects of the government’s regulatory, fiscal and budget management operations.
Mr Jefferson joined the Civil Service in 1994 as an Audit Manager. He assumed the position of Assistant Financial Secretary with responsibility for budgetary and audit aspects of the Portfolio in 2000 before being promoted to Deputy Financial Secretary in May 2004.
Prior to joining the Service, Mr. Jefferson worked in public accounting in both the Cayman Islands and London, England, offices for both Price Waterhouse (now PriceWaterhouseCoopers) and Ernst & Young. He earned his professional qualifications from the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) in 1991.
Keynote presentation: A Common Sense Approach to an Institutional Infrastructure
Allocators Discuss Establishing and Solidifying your Firm’s Enterprise Value and Appeal to Investors
Why are the top 100 hedge funds acquiring most of the capital inflows? Seasoned executives in the alternative investment industry understand that allocators value the enterprise over performance. In this session, the panelists shall identify, explore and discuss the critical issues and infrastructure required to establish and enhance your firm’s enterprise value and appeal to Allocators.
Sidestepping the Next Alternative Investment Debacle – Preemptively Identifying and Assessing the “Catalysts of Implosions”
What breakdown in information led certain allocators to continue participating in vehicles such as LTC, Wood River, Philadelphia Capital, Bayou Capital, and Amaranth? How did investors miss the warning signs? Panelists will identify and explore breakdowns in the operational, regulatory and risk management due diligence process within the context of lessons learned will help investors avoid the next debacle.
Morning refreshments and exhibits
Maximizing your Firm’s Appeal to Institutional Investors by Leveraging Infrastructure
What infrastructure is required now to attract and retain institutional money? What systems, human resources, and processes instill and maintain confidence by investors? How can hedge funds respond to ever-changing demands by both clients and regulators?
Hedge Fund Implosions: Mitigating the Aftermath and Maximizing the Opportunities Afforded by these Incidents
Panelists will share experiences and practical guidance for managing the opportunities and mitigating the aftermath of an implosion. And because there is nothing as effective as learning from a real world incident, their discussion will include a featured case study so that attendees can learn from actual events.
Luncheon
Track A - Operations: The Convergence of Compliance and Risk Management: The Hedge Fund Industry Adapts to Increased Investor Demands
Investors are increasingly interested in issues beyond legal and compliance-related risks. Consequently, hedge funds must adapt to the heightened regulatory focus, and expand their knowledge beyond traditional risk management issues. This panel will explore the escalating regulatory landscape’s impact upon risk managers, and how the risk management and compliance functions shall continue to interact and converge and how these issues will affect managers’ ability to attract and retain assets. The panel will address:
Risk management policies and procedures
Hedge fund leverage issues
Trade surveillance
Risk management issues turned regulatory
Interacting with investors
An International perspective
Track B - Compliance & Financial Reporting: Managing Risk Management and Compliance in the Business Development Process
Experts will lead us through the necessary compliance and financial reporting-related aspects of crucial business processes including: marketing and advertising; capital introduction activities; third party marketing; wrap programs and sub-advisory relationships, partnering with distribution channels such as broker dealers and registered investment advisers.
Track A – Operations: Implementing the Requisite Infrastructure and Technology to Attract Initial or Additional Allocations
What infrastructure is needed to ensure a hedge fund’s continuing ability to attract new and additional assets? What should any manager’s priorities be in terms of in-house systems and processes, and what can be safely and effectively outsourced? What is it exactly that allocators are looking for?
Track B – Financial Reporting & Compliance: Compliance Risk Management in the Front and Middle Office
This session will explore the best means of managing compliance risks, specifically as they relate to insider trading, trade allocation, best execution, and personal trading.
Afternoon refreshments and exhibits
Track A – Operations: Business Continuity Planning – Managing the Enterprise, Not Just a Portfolio
Workshop participants will exchange information on third party service provider reviews, contingency planning, succession planning, and key personnel acquisition and retention.
Track B – Financial Reporting & Compliance: Implementing Appropriate Valuation Practices and Managing Side Pockets
This session offers participants an exploration of valuation practices, pricing issues and illiquid securities. Workshop leaders will provide a thorough analysis of FASB 157, and related pronouncements.
Track A – Operations: Best Practices in Managing Counterparty Risk, Leverage and Credit
While many funds are becoming increasingly adept at monitoring and managing their internal risk and compliance structures, a number of well-established firms have been shaken or destroyed by not properly managing their counterparties. This session will examine the primary risks associated with counterparties, leverage and credit, including:
• Negotiating credit lines and credit arrangements
• Assessing the total use of leverage across a fund enterprise
• Effectively resolving counter party issues
• Evaluating the use of leverage at the manager and investment levels
• Proper use of credit facilities by fund of fund vehicles
Track B - Financial Reporting & Compliance: Structuring your Business Properly
How do you structure your hedge fund business so that your firm is protected in down years yet able to take advantage of opportunities as they present themselves? How can you follow the money as investors’ interests and needs change?
Cocktail Reception
Continental breakfast and exhibits
Panel Session - Regulatory Roundtable: Open Discussion with the Regulators
Learn everything you need to know about impending regulatory initiatives and their consequences for the hedge fund industry. This is your chance to ask questions of the regulators.
Panel Session - Anatomy of a Compliance Program and Regulatory Examination
The core components of a robust compliance program comprise comprehensive internal controls coupled with adequate supervision and oversight. But in many regulatory regimes and during litigation, supervisory responsibility can result in liability for compliance officers. How then can compliance officers ensure the viability of their programs? An effective supervisory structure provides the most visible indication to regulators that a firm does or does not enforce a “culture of compliance”. This session will provide a roadmap for such a structure by addressing and exploring such issues as:
• Adequately establishing policies
• Properly implementing and enforcing procedures
• Codes of ethics
• Monitoring and oversight methodologies, including exception reports, compliance assessments, forensic testing, sampling, etc
• Supervision of personnel, including addressing conflicts, enhanced supervision and IC issues
• Chinese walls
• Evaluating, addressing and reporting violations
• Successfully negotiating a regulatory examination
Morning refreshments and exhibits
Panel Session - Operational Due Diligence: Anatomy of an Operational, Regulatory and Legal Due Diligence Assessment
This workshop will offer participants a thorough discussion of the necessary scope and components of a due diligence assessment as well as a comprehensive analysis of due diligence methodologies. Discussion will include a focus on hedge fund ratings as a component of the due diligence process. Participants will benefit from workshop leaders sharing the key and unique features of the procedures and due diligence work product.
Panel Session - Regulatory Roundtable: Bonus Round with Regulators
Learn everything you need to know about impending regulatory initiatives and their consequences for the hedge fund industry. This is your chance to ask questions of the regulators.
Luncheon
Panel session - Cost-Benefit of Outsourcing: Regulatory, Compliance, and Business Considerations
Should hedge funds be taking better advantage of the opportunities offered by outsourcing? If so, what should be outsourced? Cash management? Research and analysis? What are the attendant compliance and business issues?
Panel Session - The Role of Independent Directors
Institutional Investors are increasingly pushing for funds to have independent directors for corporate governance reasons though they are not always required by jurisdictions, for example in Grand Cayman. Allocators will discuss the importance of IDs when selecting a fund; what falls under the ID’s responsibility; who bears the cost of having IDs; what should the qualifications be; and how does the inclusion of IDs or not impact the roles of affiliated directors.
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