Fund industry volunteers build open-access library to cut compliance costs

A fund industry group in Luxembourg has launched what it called “an open website that anyone can access and make use of the resources anonymously and free of charge.”

Global Asset Management Standards, a not-for-profit association registered in 2023 and completely run by volunteers, unveiled Gamstandards.com on Monday.

Gamstandards.com is a “free library of templates, data definitions, checklists, best-practice guides and other tools to help everyone meet regulatory requirements more efficiently and accurately,” David Ryder, a board member of Global Asset Management Standards and managing director of Prospero Media, a financial communications consultancy, told the Luxembourg Times.

The organisation was “created by industry professionals who share one simple belief: lack of common standards in the industry costs everyone time, money and efficiency,” Natalie Dogniez, a volunteer board director at Global Asset Management Standards and a paid independent board director for several investment funds, stated in a promotional video.

Nathalie Dogniez seen in a video promoting the Gamstandards.com free resource library © Photo credit: Gamstandards.com

The organisation was “created by industry professionals who share one simple belief: lack of common standards in the industry costs everyone time, money and efficiency,” Natalie Dogniez, a volunteer board director at Global Asset Management Standards and a paid independent board director for several investment funds, stated in a promotional video.

“So, we decided to act,” Dogniez said. “We work pro bono to design templates, standards and tools that make the industry run smoother […] to help fund managers, administrators, custodians, transfer agents and other industry players to exchange information more easily.”

Save time and cut waste

“Our goal is simple: Support everyone in meeting regulatory requirements, improve efficiency across the value chain, cut costs, risk and waste, and, ultimately, make the industry better for investors,” Dogniez said.

She continued: “The challenges [facing the fund industry] are real. Rising costs, increasing regulation, growing product complexity, with liquid and private markets converging, and new competition from digital asset investments. So, instead of each company reinventing the wheel, we’re offering one central platform with ready-to-use resources, open to all and free of charge.”

The group stressed that the resources posted in the free library aim to “complement, not replace, those already in existence” and are “not intended to replace any existing associations’, industry bodies’ or [companies’ internal] existing best practice publications, its role is purely complementary.”

Resources already available include questionnaires designed to satisfy SFDR precontractual and periodic disclosures required by the Luxembourg financial regulator CSSF, ultimate beneficial ownership declarations and a due diligence questionnaire for non-listed real estate investment vehicles.

‘Industry to industry resource’

“This is a valuable resource built by the industry for the industry,” Revel Wood, another volunteer board member and co-founder of One Group Solutions, a fund and corporate services provider, said in the press release.

The organisation’s other board members are the non-executive investment fund directors Mark Phillips and Enricho Turchi, and James Spanjaard, co-founder of Alis Exchange, a software development company.

According to Ryder, other participants include Alan Dundon, president of the Luxembourg Alternative Administrators Association (L3A), Gerard Green, head of global anti-money laundering at Invesco Management and chair of Findel Group, and Joe Hendry, country head of Brown Brothers Harriman in Luxembourg.

The group said it was also supported by the Luxembourg Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (LPEA), Luxembourg Bankers’ Association (ABBL), European Association for Investors in Non-Listed Real Estate (Inrev), Luxembourg Institute of Governance (ILA), BNP Paribas, Fundrock, Schroders and Waystone, among others.

“We welcome feedback and suggestions,” Ryder stated in the announcement. “If there’s a resource you would like to see added, or one that you already have and can share, tell us.”