As investors continue to search for new ways to drive alpha, lower costs and increase accessibility, there has been increased discussion across the investment management industry about converting separately managed accounts (“SMA”s) into exchange traded funds (“ETF”s).
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Should an ETF investing in foreign securities utilize fair value adjustment factors? Before answering this question, we should address why investment companies use fair value adjustment factors. Funds that invest in international securities could be subject to market timers looking to take advantage of the arbitrage that may occur between the time a foreign stock exchange closes and the time the U.S. stock exchange closes. The market timer buys into the fund and then sells out of the fund the next day, driving up costs and diluting the share value for long-term investors.
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Hedge funds can incur start-up costs called organization and offering costs. Oftentimes, the treatment of these costs for Generally Accepted Accounting Principles in the United States (GAAP) purposes can cause headaches during the audit process. The key to avoiding this particular headache is understanding the issue and then coordinating with your auditor on a plan of action during the organization of the fund.
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We often have conversations with portfolio managers who have experience managing a portfolio in a large shop and decide to break away and start their own investment advisory business. Many of these managers have an interest in launching their own pooled investment vehicle, often a product that they have been working “on the side.”
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When investing in a SPAC, at the IPO or after, you are not investing in an actual company with fundamentals.
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Given that mutual funds and ETFs are both types of regulated investment companies with audits subject to the requirements of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, there are certainly many similarities in the audit process for both. However, there are some key differences to note, particularly in the areas of:
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As the saying goes, "You don't know what you don't know." Below we have detailed eight investments that could cause a tax headache if not approached carefully.
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In BBD's latest Webcast, John Braun and Cory Stewart teamed up with Karen Aspinall from Practus and Terry Gallagher from UMB for a dynamic discussion on the SEC's new Derivatives Rule.
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On December 3, 2020, the SEC voted to approve Rule 2a-5 (the “Rule”) to address valuation practices and the role of the Board of Directors for registered investment companies and business development companies relative to the fair value of investments. The new Rule is meant to modernize existing SEC regulations that have not been comprehensively addressed by the SEC for 50 years. BBD has summarized the Rule in a previous post.
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