Relevant industry content we've curated covering a wide range of topics
Atkins to Push ‘Thorough Economic Analysis’ of SEC Rules
Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Paul Atkins last week called for a “robust” economic analysis of SEC rules amid “ongoing changes in financial landscapes,” adding that previous agency leadership focused heavily on “regulatory expansion over meticulous economic analysis.”
Atkins, who was sworn in last month, said it was a “new day at the SEC” and crucial that the agency ensures “thorough and unbiased economic analysis is not being overshadowed by any driving desire to implement regulatory measures that impose unnecessary burdens on our markets.”
Atkins “may revisit the economic basis of already-adopted rules, slow or halt pending rulemakings that lack robust economic justification or use cost-benefit analysis to reframe existing proposals,” Cynthia Kelly, a managing director for compliance at STP Investments, said in an email.
Atkins is also expected to create a regulatory framework around crypto and tokenization, artificial intelligence, and the expansion of alternatives into the retail channel, she added.
Read more of what Cynthia and other subject matter experts had to say here.
Private equity firms tap co-investments for new growth opportunities
Co-investing has long been considered a niche strategy in private markets, but that perception is rapidly changing. Shifting market dynamics, rising valuations, and increasing investor demand are positioning co-investments as a key strategy for fund managers and LPs in 2025 and beyond.
This shift is already evident in investor allocations. Goldman Sachs’ 2024 Private Market Diagnostic Survey found that 50% of LPs now allocate to co-investments, up from previous years. The trend also appears to be on the rise among GPs in the year ahead.
Read the rest of what David Goldstein, Director, Product – Fund Services had to say in Pensions and Investments here.
SEC to Reconsider Closed-End Fund Retail Restrictions
Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Paul Atkins said Monday he is directing the agency to reconsider two decade-old rules that prohibit retail investors from tapping into closed-end funds, such as interval funds and business development companies.
Atkins said the SEC will reexamine a 23-year-old practice in which closed-end funds that allocate 15% or more to alternatives require $25,000 initial investment minimums and are open only to accredited investors.
T+1 in the UK: Why the road ahead will be harder than the US playbook
In February 2025, the UK’s Accelerated Settlement Taskforce (AST) published its long-awaited T+1 Settlement Plan, signalling the country’s intent to shift to a one-day settlement cycle by 11 October 2027. While that date may appear comfortably distant, the reality is that the path to T+1 is likely to be far more complex than the US transition that happened last year, writes Kaisha Schnoll, vice president, trade settlements at STP Investment Services.
The Rise of Co-Sourcing and Lift-Outs
In recent decades, emerging fund managers have increasingly turned to fund administrators to streamline operations, reduce costs, and mitigate risks. By outsourcing key functions, they’ve been able to focus more on investment strategies and growth. This trend is expected to continue into 2025 and beyond. However, what about established fund managers who began operations before this model became popular? How are they adapting to the new demands for operational efficiency, reduced risks, and investor satisfaction? The answer lies in evolving operational strategies such as co-sourcing and lift-outs.
These models provide established fund managers with a blend of efficiency, flexibility, and risk management while preserving some internal control. In this article, we explore how these strategies are transforming operational models for older asset management firms and enabling them to compete in a rapidly changing financial landscape.
Challenges for Established Fund Managers: A Changing Landscape
Many established fund managers have spent years building their operations without the benefit of outsourced administrative functions. While this structure may have worked in the past, today’s complex regulatory environment and increased investor demands are prompting many managers to reconsider their operational models.
Read what our subject matter expert, David Goldstein, had to say in Uncorrelated here.
STP Shortlisted for Multiple Awards at the FTF News Technology Innovation Awards 2025
We’re proud to share that STP Investment Services has been officially shortlisted for four categories in the prestigious 2025 FTF News Technology Innovation Awards — a recognition that highlights our continued commitment to operational excellence and technology-driven solutions across the financial services landscape.
Our nominations include:
- Best Global Settlement Solution
- Best Middle-Office Solution
- Best Middle-to-Back Office Integration Solution
- Best Outsourcing Provider
These nominations reflect the hard work and innovation of our incredible team, as well as the strong partnerships we’ve built with our clients. From streamlining post-trade processes in preparation for the T+1 settlement shift, to enhancing middle- and back-office efficiency with our Blueprint technology, STP is proud to lead the way in solving real-world challenges with flexible, scalable, and personalized solutions.
Being recognized across four categories is not only an honor — it’s a testament to our mission of helping investment firms modernize operations, reduce risk, and grow confidently in a fast-evolving industry.Voting opens Wednesday, April 16, and runs through May 9th via the FTF voting link here – https://www.ftfnews.com/awards/ftf-news-technology-innovation-awards-2025/?section=categories_nominees
Winners will be announced in New York City on June 17, 2025.
SEC rethinks RIA registration threshold
The acting chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has asked for a review of the registration threshold for RIAs, a move that compliance experts said could overburden state governments.
Since the passage of the Dodd-Frank Act by Congress in 2010, RIAs with over $100m in assets under management have largely been required to register with the SEC as opposed to a state government, up from the $25m threshold that the federal government had in place prior to the legislation. SEC acting chair Mark Uyeda in a Tuesday speech floated the idea of raising the threshold further in an environment where the SEC faces staff attrition and scrutiny of its activity from the Trump administration.
While they acknowledged the need for a new look at defining RIA size from a regulatory point of view, compliance experts expressed concern about stretching state governments too thin.
‘My first reaction was wow,’ said Lori Weston, head of compliance at STP Investment Services, referencing the possibility of a $1bn registration threshold.
‘If mid-sized is under a billion, these firms are looking at not only understanding and complying with their own principal state regulations, which vary from the Advisers Act, but also multiple other states,’ Weston said.
Read what Lori and other subject matter experts had to say here.
Pimco Adopts AI Agents
Pimco has developed artificial intelligence capabilities, including “AI agents” to reduce errors occurring in back-office processes – and the fixed income giant hopes other industry firms will embrace its approach.
The nearly $2 trillion asset manager teamed up with fintech shop OnCorps AI to build algorithms that detect accounting, trading and other operational errors in the reconciliation process. OnCorps uses algorithms, large language models and “AI agents” to identify and explain errors or other unresolved issues to portfolio managers and analysts via a ChatGPT-like messaging system as well as text and email, OnCorps CEO Bob Suh told FundFire.
AI agents are a form of Agentic AI – a relatively new type of artificial intelligence that builds upon generative AI, in that it can make decisions independently without relying on human prompts.
The industry will be watching how Pimco’s partnership with OnCorps shakes out, Jim Lewis, STP Investment Services‘ head of technology, told FundFire.
“This is going to be a very interesting test of the market to see if it is ready for an algo-as-a-service,” he said. “If this gets some traction, what it leads to could be way more interesting than where it started.”
Read what Jim and other subject matter experts had to say in FundFire here.
Lawmakers Grill Trump’s SEC Pick over Alts, DOGE
President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission, Paul Atkins, faced heat from Democratic lawmakers Thursday over deregulation, expanding investor access to alternative investments, and potential conflicts of interest if he leads the agency.
Appearing before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, Atkins said it was time to “reset” the agency’s priorities and “return common sense to the SEC.”
Atkins, a former Republican SEC commissioner who served from 2002 to 2008, pledged to protect investors from fraud, provide a “firm regulatory foundation for digital assets” such as crypto, keep politics out of securities laws and regulations, and push “clear rules” that encourage investment.
Atkins stressed the need for a “robust cost-benefit analysis when considering new regulations.” That statement indicates that Atkins will push fewer regulations and will likely “take a hard look” at the rules proposed under Gensler that have not yet been adopted, Lori Weston, head of compliance at STP Investment Services, said in an email.
Read what Lori and others had to say in FundFire’s article here.
SEC Eases Marketing Rule Performance Requirements
SEC Eases Marketing Rule Performance Requirements on Wednesday. The SEC updated some of the more complex performance requirements in its Marketing Rule that industry firms have grappled with three years after the regulation took effect.
The updates were “highly anticipated” and allow firms to display gross performance without having to show net calculations when showing a subset of investments, as long as certain criteria are met, Cynthia Kelly, a senior compliance consultant at STP Investment Services, told FundFire in an email.
“This ensures transparency and balanced disclosure while acknowledging the impracticality of calculating net performance for extracted data,” she said.
The agency issued new guidance in two areas of a frequently asked questions document, one of which scrapped a requirement that asset managers show both gross and net performance when highlighting the results of a subset of investments from a portfolio, known as extracted performance.
Read more of what Cynthia had to say to FundFire here.
SEC issues marketing rule guidance on gross performance
The SEC issues marketing rule guidance on gross performance. In this new guidance, the SEC said it would not recommend enforcement actions against advisors who advertise the gross performance of an investment within a portfolio, if they meet certain requirements.
The guidance published by the SEC in the form of frequently asked questions (FAQs) shows that advisors governed by the rule must clearly identify such ‘extracted performance’ as gross performance and display the total portfolio’s gross and net performance in any advertisements.
STP Investment Services Announces STP LaunchAdvisor
STP Investment Services (STP), a global provider of technology-enabled investment operations, fund administration, and compliance solutions, today unveiled STP LaunchAdvisor, a bundled service designed to deliver comprehensive fund administration, investor services, regulatory filings, and core policies designed for exempt reporting advisers and private fund managers. The offering integrates fund administration and compliance into a single, cost-effective solution, eliminating the need for multiple service providers and providing the infrastructure and regulatory support emerging managers need to establish and scale their funds efficiently.
