A New Risk Advisory Option
March 30, 2009
Citing growing concerns about fund managers' due diligence, a pair of investment industry veterans have started up a risk advisory designed for both institutional investors and advisers.
Newport Beach, Calif.-based Catalina Partners will offer an alternative to in-house business risk management, according to Patricia Watters, who was previously COO and chief compliance officer of Pacific Alternative Asset Management Co., a fund of hedge funds in Irvine, Calif. "Our goal," she said, "is to give clients increased assurance of the operational soundness of their business decisions."
Catalina will screen for fraud and risk concentration for its institutional customers--the firm had no clients as of last week but reported "significant" interest. For investment advisers, Catalina will perform operational risk assessments; process, controls and governance reengineering; and operational risk monitoring.
"We have a new risk paradigm for the hedge fund industry and investment industry as a whole," said co-founder Mason Snyder, former director in the regulatory and capital markets consulting practice at Deloitte & Touche. "Legislative and regulatory initiatives on the horizon will bring more requirements to investment advisers and drive increased transparency and accountability."
