From first filing to a firm that runs well
Opening Print Partners works with hedge fund managers and broker-dealers from the months before launch to the years after it. We get the structure, the providers and the filings right at the start, prepare managers for capital raising, and build operations and compliance programs that hold up as the firm grows.
Who we work with
Our clients are building or running regulated investment firms. Some are a few months from launch, and some have been operating for years and have outgrown how they were set up.
Emerging managers and spinouts
Launching a first fund, often out of a larger platform, with a date set and the infrastructure still to build.
Managers raising capital
Preparing for allocator diligence and capital introduction meetings, at launch or ahead of the next stage of growth.
Established hedge funds
Adding a prime broker, a product or a registration, or fixing an operation that has fallen behind the business.
Family offices and advisers adding a fund
Moving from managing family or client accounts to running a private fund with outside investors.
New broker-dealers
Taking a business plan through the FINRA new member application to the first day of business.
Established broker-dealers
New business lines, clearing changes, exam findings, and procedures that need rebuilding around how the firm works today.
What we do
The work splits into launching a firm and running one. In practice they overlap. A manager we help launch will need its operations reviewed two years later, and a broker-dealer that brings us in for operations usually finds its procedures need the same attention.
Launch
New hedge funds and new broker-dealers
We set the order of work, introduce the providers that fit, prepare the fund for allocators, and have operations and compliance in place before the first investor or customer arrives.
- Structure, registration path and launch sequencing
- Prime broker, clearing firm, administrator and auditor selection
- Capital introduction readiness, materials and introductions
- FINRA new member application preparation
- Books and records and a compliance program ready on day one
Operate
Established managers and member firms
We look at the work that happens outside the investment decision, fix what is slowing the firm down or exposing it, and write down how it should run from here.
- Operating model, process review and automation
- Treasury, fund accounting oversight, billing and financial operations
- Technology, data and vendor review, selection and migration
- Compliance programs, annual reviews and supervisory testing
- Mock exams, exam support and diligence readiness
How a launch comes together
Our launch work runs in six stages, several of them in parallel, all tied to one dated plan.
- PlanStrategy, structure, budget and a dated plan
- Form and registerEntities, Form ADV or Form BD, and the FINRA application where needed
- Select providersPrime broker or clearing firm, administrator, auditor and counsel
- BuildSystems, operations, books and records and the compliance program
- Prepare to raiseMaterials, due diligence readiness and capital introduction
- LaunchA full dry run, go-live and support through the first ninety days
Where we are usually brought in
A spinout with a launch date and no infrastructure
The team and the strategy are ready. The entities, providers, systems and compliance program are not.
A first allocator meeting on the calendar
The track record is strong, but the pitch book, DDQ and data room have not been through anyone's diligence yet.
A business plan that has to become a FINRA application
Picking a clearing model, sizing the capital, and putting qualified principals in place before the application is filed.
An operation that grew by adding people
Every new product or counterparty was handled with more manual work, and the cost is now showing up in errors and overtime.
Procedures written for a different firm
The compliance manual or the WSPs started as a template and no longer describe what the firm actually does.
An exam or diligence request with a deadline
A regulator, an allocator or a prime broker wants documents and evidence faster than the firm can pull them together.
Background
Operations
We have run firm operations end to end, including settlement, clearing and counterparty relationships, commission and soft dollar administration, financial operations and vendor management, along with the automation that lets a small team keep pace with growth.
Compliance
We have built compliance programs and run them as chief operating officer and chief compliance officer, writing the procedures, running surveillance and AML, doing the annual testing and certification, and leading regulatory exams from first request to close.
Trading and markets
We have worked on the trading side as well, in institutional execution and the systems that connect a desk to its brokers, clearing firms and clients. We know what the front office needs from operations and compliance because we have sat on both sides of it.