What is a flex?
A flex is an exchange-traded product (in the form of a note) that provides a solution for investment management and distribution. The flex’s price is linked to the value of the underlying assets or Portfolio.
Who issues the flex?
The Issuer of the program is an Irish public limited liability company that has been established as a Special Purpose Vehicles. The principal activity of the Issuer is the issuance of flex Notes.
What does FlexFunds do?
FlexFunds partners with asset managers worldwide to provide administration services for exchange traded products. FlexFunds’ asset securitization program makes structuring of ETPs simple for our customers, including fund accounting and back office services, corporate administration services, and product launch coordination. FlexFunds does not provide investment, legal, accounting or tax advice. FlexFunds is not an investment advisor or a broker dealer.
Who can issue a flex?
A flex is issued by the program’s Issuer at the request of an investment advisor, developer or project manager as the named Portfolio Manager. The Portfolio Manager has full control of the investment strategy, though for legal purposes has no issuer-related liability. FlexFunds can arrange a flex issuance for many kinds of investment professionals, such as registered investment advisors, portfolio managers, broker-dealers, family offices, and other money and asset managers.
How long does it take to issue a flex?
The timing to complete an issuance is around 4 weeks for the flexportfolio and about 6 weeks for the flexfeeder. Issuance timing is dependant on a timely completion of the initial term sheet by the Portfolio Manager.
How long does it take to issue more notes?
It takes about 8 business days to issue an additional tranche on an existing flex Series.
Who manages the strategy behind the flex?
The strategy is managed by an appointed Portfolio Manager. The investment strategy is defined on the Issuance documents according to the Portfolio Manager’s direction. Also, the Portfolio Manager may establish the terms for their Management fee, which will be disclosed in the Issuance Documentation.
How can issuing a flex earn an advisor more revenue?
Administration costs inherent in managing investment portfolios average just less than one percent of assets under management, exclusive of management fees. By utilizing a flex as an investment management vehicle the Manager can reduce these administrative costs by as much as forty percent or more with the savings being passed through to the client or retained by the advisor in the form of an increased management fee. In addition, the flex’s distribution advantages and efficient administration allow managers to focus on growing their assets under management.
How much does it cost to establish a flex?
The cost to establish a flex is very competitive and designed to allow for low risk launch and inexpensive maintenance. Final costs depend upon several factors, including, among other things, the types of underlying assets and the issue size. For information about the costs of establishing a flex for your investment portfolio or special project please contact our client relations team at
[email protected] How is portfolio management with a flex superior to an LLC or partnership?
For a manager, the flex Program provides complete administration services by some of the most well-known and top-tier financial institutions in the world, allowing the Manager to concentrate entirely on managing assets and growing the size of their portfolio. Furthermore, Investors in partnerships and limited liability companies are required, in most jurisdictions, to realize capital gains and losses in the year of the transaction. However, when the investor invests in the managed portfolio through a flex the investor will not realize a taxable event until the note is sold or redeemed.
How is CRS/FATCA reporting done by the Irish SPVs in the Programme?
The Irish SPVs are Reporting Financial Institutions for purposes of CRS/FATCA, but it reports no “reportable accounts” because all holders of the issued notes are reporting financial institutions that have the responsibility for doing the relevant CRS/FATCA reporting. The Irish SPVs, through their Trustees, make a filing to that effect.