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May 2015
One year on, since we first went to print,
and we’re celebrating with our third
newsletter! 2014 was a tremendously
successful and busy year for MMC and
2015 is looking to be more of the same...
In this issue of our six monthly newsletter
we’ll be:
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Measuring MMC’s activity and growth
with a snapshot of numbers;
Summarising
any
business
development initiatives in progress;
Providing a ‘heads up’ on changes to
the New Zealand regulatory and
legislative environment; and
Sharing various other ‘goings-on’ from
both sides of the MMC office walls.
Business Development
Since November we’ve concentrated on
finishing our transition and on boarding
activities, retiring old systems and
technology, releasing the redesign of our
external website and outsourcing our
printing and mailing services.
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MMC
In the last six months MMC’s funds under
administration have grown by over 50%.
Not only have we seen extraordinary
growth in our existing clients (from
positive market returns on portfolios and
an inspiring inflow of new investor funds),
we’ve also welcomed new client Milford
Asset Management aboard.
As at 31 March 2015 MMC have 27 clients
with funds under administration of over
$22.1 billion. We’re calculating 210 unit
prices each day and have 34 staff
members.
To strengthen MMC’s management team,
we’ve recently appointed a Risk and
Compliance Manager to oversee our ever
expanding regulatory and legislative
obligations. Meet her later in this
newsletter!
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All of MMC’s fund accounting and unit
pricing
clients are now
fully
transitioned on to NeXus.
MMC’s new client Milford Asset
Management have been successfully
on boarded. They’re the first to trial
access to fund accounting and unit
pricing data and reporting via our
secure web portal.
With our transitions to NeXus all
completed,
MMC’s
old
fund
accounting and unit pricing systems
and technology have been recently
retired.
Our external website was proudly
launched just before Christmas
receiving favourable feedback from
both clients and the broader industry.
MMC’s first outsourced mailing was
run and sent last month for one of our
client’s April distribution – this
enabled the direct emailing of more
than two thirds of their investors. The
annual tax year end mailing for all
registry clients is next, being
scheduled for mid to late May. This
involves emailing over 2,200 investors
and printing and posting close to 8,500
pieces of paper!
Through to November this year our activity
will focus on extending web portal access,
transitioning registry clients to NeXus and
the
release
of
further
system
enhancements to MMC’s fund accounting
and unit pricing processes.
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May 2015
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Access to fund accounting and unit
pricing data and reporting via our
secure web portal will be extended to
two more clients over the next couple
of weeks. Once they’re comfortable
with what we’ve provided, we’ll
progressively make contact to allow
access for all clients by the end of
November.
Our existing legacy registry system
and NeXus have been running in
parallel since the start of this year,
with secure web portal access to
registry data and reporting currently
being tested by two registry clients.
After completion of tax year end tasks
we’ll start transitioning registry clients
to include both secure access to the
web portal and outsourcing of the
remaining
transaction
advices.
Commencing with those who have
monthly priced funds, we’re aiming to
transition all registry clients within the
next six months.
Additional unit pricing processes will
be integrated into NeXus.
Workflow control over unit pricing and
other operational processes will
continue to be released.
SWIFT
messaging
will
be
implemented towards the end of this
year.
Regulatory & Legislative
Environment
FATCA
With all the focus of late on licensing you
could almost be excused from forgetting
about FATCA. Almost but not quite!
New Zealand financial institutions are
required to provide FATCA data (for the
period up to 31 March 2015) to Inland
Revenue between 1 April and 30 June
2015. MMC will be running an initial report
from our system mid to late May – this will
pick up the appropriate fields provided
either by our registry clients’ enhanced
account opening procedures for new
investors or their review of existing
accounts. This will be given to registry
clients for checking and lodging with
Inland Revenue. Inland Revenue then have
to send FATCA data to the IRS by 30
September 2015.
MANAGER LICENSING
Earlier this year the FMA produced a two
part licensing application guide to help
MIS managers complete their application,
setting out the minimum standards that
must be adhered to (by both the manager
and any outsource provider).
To help satisfy our clients due diligence
requirements, MMC has produced an
overview document and various policies
and frameworks which are in a final draft
format.
Once
completed
they’ll
complement our six monthly PwC control
reports and regular service review
meetings. The list of policies and
frameworks are as follows:
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MMC’s AML & CFT Policy;
MMC’s Asset & Liability Valuation
Policy;
MMC’s
Error
Reporting
&
Compensation Policy;
MMC’s Registry Administration Policy
& Framework;
MMC’s Risk Policy & Framework;
MMC’s Unit Pricing Policy &
Framework; and
MMC’s Unit Pricing Taxation Policy.
We’re also working on updating the
documentation of other aspects of our
business.
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May 2015
Whilst MMC is not required to be licensed,
as an outsource provider we must meet
the same minimum standards as our
clients had they carried out the function
themselves.
Although MIS managers aren’t required to
be licensed or schemes registered until 1
December 2016, with an indicative timing
that it takes seven to ten months, it’s not
something that should be left until the last
minute. As always… we recommend that
our clients seek their own expert advice.
Services and
Agreements
Service
Level
Introducing…
We’d like to introduce
you to our newly
appointed Compliance
and Risk Manager,
Leigh Ryland. After her
most recent two and a
half years as the
Manager
of
Unit
Pricing
and
Investment Reporting for Sovereign and
ASB’s Investment Operations, Leigh
joined our senior management team in
February.
Leigh’s responsibilities include:
With all the changes that the FMCA brings
about, we’ve recently reviewed both the
MMC Services and Service Level
Agreements to take into account the
necessary regulatory and operational
amendments required.
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We’ll be looking to meet with all of our
clients over the next six months to present
these amended agreements and acquire
signatures. If a copy of our policies and
frameworks
haven’t
already
been
requested, these will be provided at the
time.
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An important component of the Service
Level Agreement is establishing regular
service review meetings with MMC. For
those clients who are familiar with the MIS
licensing minimum standards, you’ll be
aware of the need to regularly review
outsource arrangements and have a
performance monitoring programme in
place.
“Do what you do best and
outsource the rest”
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Drafting and maintaining MMC’s
operational and staff policies and
frameworks;
Creating a compliance calendar;
Consolidating incident and issues
reporting;
Reviewing risk management systems
and MMC’s risk register;
Implementing change management
processes;
Appraising BCP / DR processes; and
Undertaking adhoc quality assurance.
With a nine year tenure at Suncorp prior to
joining Sovereign and ASB, Leigh has 22
years’
experience
in
management
positions in New Zealand and the UK.
Contact Us
If you’d like to discuss or obtain further
information about anything featured in
this newsletter, please feel free to contact
us on:
Nicola Tait - (09) 557 1484 or
[email protected]
Tom Peters (management guru)
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