First fund for an emerging manager, launched in fourteen weeks

The brief

Two portfolio managers leaving a larger firm had soft commitments from a US endowment, two US taxable family offices and a European institution. They needed a structure that worked for all of them and a launch date that matched the endowment's allocation cycle.

• Mixed investor base meant a single-vehicle fund would have failed one group or another.
• The manager entity had to be placed where the team actually lived and worked.
• Prime brokerage onboarding, not the regulator, was the binding constraint on the timeline.
• Budget was an emerging manager's, so nothing unnecessary could be built.

How it was built, in order

1. 01
   Structure fixed in week one

   Confirmed a master-feeder was genuinely required by the investor base rather than defaulting to it.

2. 02
   Manager entity placed deliberately

   Investment manager established where the team actually works, keeping the Cayman fund management substance test out of scope.

3. 03
   Documents drafted in parallel

   Offering memorandum, articles, IMA, subscription documents and administration agreement progressed together rather than sequentially.

4. 04
   Prime broker started first

   Onboarding opened in week two, because it was known to be the critical path, not the regulator.

5. 05
   Directors and auditor engaged

   Independent directors registered and a CIMA-approved auditor appointed ahead of registration.

6. 06
   CIMA registration filed

   Registration under the Mutual Funds Act completed once the operator and audit appointments were in place.