Aztec Group News

Aztec Group launches in the UK

Sunday, January 03, 2010

The Aztec Group has decided to develop an onshore service, following the same exacting standards of its business model which enjoys successful administration businesses in Guernsey, Jersey and Luxembourg.

Aztec Group’s business model is delivered through stable, client-centric teams combined with a unique IT platform which incorporates eFront FrontInvest, Europe’s leading fund administration software. This is supported by a number of value-added services including compliance, tax and treasury.

The UK business will be spearheaded by Alan Ross, an industry experienced fund accountant who has worked in the Group’s Jersey office for four years, delivering accounting and investor relations’ requirements to a number of their private equity and real estate clients.

The Group, which now employs over 80 staff - 65 of whom are directly client-facing - was formed in 2001 in Jersey. Since then the Group has grown significantly and now has over 45 funds and $26 billion under management, focused predominantly on private equity and real estate funds.

Edward Moore, Aztec Group’s co-founder and CEO, said, “We have had a business development presence in the UK for nearly two years and it has become increasingly apparent that UK based fund managers are keen to access a fund administration solution similar to the offering we are able to provide in each of our administration hubs. Our use of technology to drive efficiencies and enhance investor relations, combined with our value added services which improve a fund’s performance, are major developments in the industry.”

The funds’ market has shown a positive shift towards outsourcing its administration and accounting requirements over recent years, as an awareness of the importance of transparency and corporate governance has spread and specialist administrators have advanced the capabilities of their service beyond what many fund managers can deliver in-house.

Alan Ross, Director of the UK business commented, “The barriers to entry of a fund manager implementing a bespoke technology platform are high; it takes time and substantial financial investment to incorporate such a system. This, combined with fund managers having to recruit and manage a team of in-house accountants and administrators, adds to the complexity of their day to day operations. These factors can impact on performance and reduce time spent on the all important task of managing the fund.”

The Aztec Group’s independence and sole focus on administering funds has enabled it to look critically at every aspect of how administration can truly impact on a fund’s performance over its lifetime. This has driven it to create a unique IT platform which delivers many benefits to the fund manager, including real-time access to data for the fund manager and investors, bespoke reporting, automated investor communications and paperless virtual boardrooms. The Group has also added a treasury service to its operations, which drives highly competitive pricing on banking services such as foreign exchange and money market transactions. A recent review undertaken by the Group has demonstrated that independent treasury operations can deliver remarkable savings for investors.

Edward Moore commented, “The performance of our clients’ funds are at the very heart of everything we do. With our independence, specialisation and long term partnership approach, we have no doubt that our UK business will be as successful as our other offices and are looking forward to delivering something different to UK based fund managers at a time when the market is looking for new solutions.”