Northern Trust has been appointed by Modular Asset Management, a specialist Asian macro alternative investment manager spun out of US hedge fund giant Millennium Capital Management, for a new asset servicing mandate.
Under the agreement, Northern Trust will provide a range of custody, fund administration, middle-office outsourcing, collateral management and risk compliance monitoring services to Modular’s newly-launched Cayman Islands–domiciled Modular Asian Macro Fund and related entities.
Modular was spun out of Millennium Capital Management in January 2020, becoming one of Asia’s largest hedge fund launches in recent years. It was founded by Jimmy Lim, who ran similar specialist Asian mandates at Millennium, BlueCrest and JP Morgan.
“We looked at a range of service providers and were impressed by Northern Trust’s technology platform and integrated suite of services which securely support our complex investment strategies, investor liaison and operational needs,” said Matthew Cannon, co-founder of Modular.
Despite concerns that new business mandates might slow during the COVID-19 pandemic, asset servicing providers are evolving to bring new business on, which will be crucial in capturing the incoming demand for outsourcing due to the impact of the global virus.
“We’re seeing an increasing trend to middle-office outsourcing in the hedge fund arena across Asia,” added Iain Carey, head of hedge fund services, Asia-Pacific at Northern Trust.
“Northern Trust’s experience and expertise in dealing with sophisticated funds, coupled with our advanced technology platform and Singapore-based fund services capabilities ensure we’re well placed to help Modular achieve its overall objectives.”