Ian Hamilton

This column is authored by Ian Hamilton, who is the founder of IDS Group. IDS provides fund administration services in Africa and Europe through Malta. He is also the founder of Scotstone Investments, a company that has fund structures and services for global emerging new managers.

Let us keep the column short and sweet, and look at the amusing side of the investment world with some of the funnies that I have dealt with in my time:

• An application form sent out by an administrator contained the question as to whether the fund manager wanted equalization accounting or series accounting. The prospective client requested that both be done for his potential investors.
• For a request as to whether there will be a high water mark, the prospective fund manager replied; "What is that? Can you advise me if I need one and what should it be?"
• "I have a managed account with my own money. I want to set up a fund and be able to borrow from time to time the assets from the fund."
• "Can your costs be kept to a minimum, the fund can only afford $5000 per annum."
• "If I get my application for a new fund to you by the end of the week. can you have it registered by the following week? I know that you have an excellent relationship with the Registrar of XX and I am sure you can pull strings for me" (fund size $4.75 million)!
• "I want to have a fund that is able to be marketed freely in the EU, Switzerland, the USA and the rest of the world." My answer to that was I am also looking for the Holy Grail.
• "Why should my investors be subject to KYC and AML?" This coming from a proposed Swiss fund manager who also doubled up as a compliance officer......................

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  This article was published in Opalesque's New Managers a top-down monthly analysis, news and research publication on the global emerging manager space.