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Case Studies
We take pride in delivering a truly personal service, which is reflected by the loyalty of our clients. Many of our client relationships date back 10 years and some as many as 20.
We take pride in delivering a truly personal service, which is reflected by the loyalty of our clients. Many of our client relationships date back 10 years and some as many as 20.
Nickel Digital Asset Management is an investment manager connecting traditional finance with the digital assets market. The firm deploys highly sophisticated low-latency algorithmic trading, pursuing a range of arbitrage strategies in both spot and derivative markets, as well as a range of directional buy-and-hold products.
Nickel Digital Asset Management is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
Our experience with Nickel
When we met the London team of Nickel Digital Asset Management back in April 2019, it was clear that their main objective was to become a fully fledged digital asset manager offering a range of crypto funds strategies to institutional clients “connecting traditional finance with the digital assets market”. The team had the in-house expertise and sophisticated trading processes to launch their first crypto arbitrage strategy, but for everything else they looked for institutional grade service providers to support them. The timing was perfect for us as our European funds team in Malta had started developing their crypto practice by working with our US office where the crypto trend originated. Trident Trust Malta was then selected alongside a team of crypto-savvy established service providers – lawyers, auditor, custodian, banker and third party UK FCA investment manager.
Thanks to a dedicated crypto team of now 7, and the Group’s early adoption of crypto technology provider Lukka, Trident Trust Malta has been able to support Nickel from the start, assisting them with the full suite of fund administration services for all their range of products from arbitrage, multi-strategy to long-only trackers and now DeFi strategies.
This is not only the story of a valuable relationship with a client but also a story of mutual growth since we have grown together, learning from each other, adjusting teams, operational processes and infrastructures as needed. Two years on and Nickel is now fully authorized by the UK FCA and Europe’s leading digital asset manager with five diversified crypto strategies and a total AuM of over $300Mn.
Crystal Capital Partners helps financial advisors seamlessly integrate hedge fund portfolios into their business. Its comprehensive service allows advisors to attract more assets by providing clients customized hedge fund portfolios tailored to meet their unique investment objectives. Crystal Capital Partners of Miami, Florida, has had a relationship with Trident Trust in Cayman for almost 20 years.
What Crystal Capital Says About Trident
Starting in 1994, Trident provided limited administration services to several of our Funds of Funds. The credit crunch of 2008 brought large withdrawals of assets from the Fund of Funds industry, but also created new opportunities, as many of the industry’s leading hedge funds became more flexible in accepting funds from long-standing substantial investors. We at Crystal had strong long-term relationships with many of the industry’s established hedge funds, some of which were entirely closed to new money and required direct investments of at least $5+ million to subscribe.
We saw a new market and in 2010 we launched our new SPC structures. Steven Brod, Senior Partner, explained, “Our industry was evolving from a one-size-fits-all mindset to a customized hedge fund portfolio approach. Investors were demanding institutional-quality managers, analytical technology, maximum transparency, independent service providers, and control over their investment decisions. Crystal responded to industry demands by providing a full suite of customized hedge fund portfolio services that help advisors expand their business and meet the unique needs of their investors.”
We always believed that we needed full independent administration support to guarantee the validity of the NAV processes, comply with increasing due diligence requirements from investors, and provide added value towards year-end audit and other data needs.
Given our existing successful long lasting relationship with Trident we hired them to expand the administration services provided at that time, including both NAV accounting and investor reporting.
Our unique investment offering and fund structure would not be easy to replicate. Trident committed to test feasibility, and after research Trident confirmed that it could calculate independently the portfolio results for each of the then 90+ participating portfolios at the feeder level, using its Advent Geneva portfolio accounting system, and thus validate the results from our in-house software. They could also utilize the Geneva World Investor (GWI) software and the Trident Portal to manage all requirements to provide the independent investor reporting. Trident proved itself capable of producing significant audit data results from Geneva and GWI that did not come easily from our in-house software, which was primarily developed for analytics and preliminary NAV reporting requirements.
We continue to be impressed by Trident’s flexible approach at the start of the engagement, and its willingness to research and develop ways to handle our highly specific requirements. Trident used Geneva’s portfolio system to replicate our method of unitizing the positions our master funds hold in each underlying hedge fund manager. Since 2012 the Trident team has repeatedly proven to be capable of handling our most demanding challenges including issues arising from the multi-jurisdictional nature of both the master fund entity group and the feeder fund entity group.
In April 2014, Crystal implemented its new Strategies offering which introduced further layers into the valuation and allocation process across the then 145+ participating portfolios, and again Trident’s staff proved capable of rising to the challenge.
Trident has also demonstrated its flexibility and willingness to work with us as a team, when we introduced an electronic system for the completion and sign-off of subscription documents. Trident continues to show its interest and support by testing and offering advice as this system is developing further.
Today Crystal’s AUM has more than tripled since the restructuring in 2010, to over $800 million now held through over 215 individualized portfolios, with access to over 75 separate hedge fund offerings. We have been able to expand our program in part because of the security that Trident provides in validating and substantiating the NAVs and providing the necessary independent reporting to all investors. Trident has from the beginning of this process provided dedicated and capable staffing at all levels. We have been extremely satisfied with Trident and the team. We very much look forward to continuing our strong business relationship and would have no hesitation in recommending Trident as a service provider.
Trident’s engagement with Crystal exemplifies the firm’s general approach to investment managers – to listen to and understand their requirements, to be the best business partner possible, and to provide exceptional, flexible, and comprehensive services that help an investment manager achieve its goals.
Spring Lake Asset Management specializes in managing municipal bond investments. Spring Lake uses its extensive credit and market experience to target inefficiencies in the municipal market, including undervalued securities. Spring Lake’s strategies are designed to produce attractive absolute and risk-adjusted returns while reducing the correlation to traditional fixed income asset classes.
Spring Lake Unconstrained Municipal Bond Fund, an early stage start-up, launched in March 2015 with initial contributions of approximately $5 million. Spring Lake appointed Trident Trust's Atlanta-based fund services team as fund administrator at the beginning of 2015 to assist with the launch process and to provide a full range of ongoing fund accounting and administration services, including portfolio accounting and NAV calculation, transfer agency, investor due diligence and reporting.
What Spring Lake Says About Trident
Since launch the Fund has posted consistently positive returns. Its clear and compelling investor proposition has led to the addition of numerous new investors, as well as follow-on commitments from the initial investors in the fund.
By August 2016 the Fund’s AUM had grown to almost $70 million: a near 14-fold increase in 18 months. This rapid growth presented us with two challenges during 2016 where Trident’s experience and international reach were invaluable.
Firstly, we needed to increase the Fund’s minimum investment threshold to $1 million. Second, we needed to expand the Fund’s structure to include an offshore vehicle for non-taxable US domestic and foreign investors.
Trident’s team worked closely with us to establish the offshore vehicle in Cayman, where it has a 60-strong office, and to implement the required accounting and procedural changes.
Trident helped us navigate through a series of complex issues and administrative steps, including KYC/AML issues, FATCA regulations, the establishment of additional banking relationships, completing the proper registration with the US Treasury Department and the Cayman Island tax authority, and managing self-certification documentation for a set of new offshore investors.
The Trident team provided knowledgeable, hands-on practical support during this intensive and complex process, taking the load off us and enabling us to continue to focus on our investment strategy.