Cordium, a global compliance consultancy to the asset management industry, has launched an investment company compliance services offering, designed to assist mutual fund chief compliance officers with their Rule 38a-1 compliance program.

Cordium, which was previously known as HedgeOp Compliance and The IMS Group, supports a fund’s compliance programs through administrative assistance and independent testing that allows CCOs to better allocate their time and resources.

The move comes in response to increasing client demand for compliance assistance when dealing with the highly-regulated field of mutual funds, said Peter Guarino, vice president at Cordium.

At the moment, alternative investments are gaining traction as investors move to diversify their portfolio.  However, US hedge fund managers investing in mutual funds that offer alternative investments need to comply with Rule 38a-1 and understand which requirements they will need in place as mutual fund providers.

“In today’s complex regulatory environment, many advisor CCOs are still operating as a ‘compliance department of one,’ especially at small- to medium-sized fund advisor firms. They also often have multiple roles, the demands of which can impede the CCO’s effective administration of the fund’s Rule 38a-1 compliance program. Our Investment Company Compliance Services team will assist CCOs by providing them with the professional help of an expert mutual fund compliance team,” Guarino explained.

The compliance services will include assisting CCOs in the administration of the fund’s Rule 38a-1 review, providing ongoing administration of the fund’s compliance policies and procedures and reviewing the fund’s service providers and their compliance programs. The services also provide transactional and forensic testing of the fund’s compliance program as well as a Rule 38a-1 annual report or quarterly updates.

Cordium is a global provider of regulatory compliance consulting services and software to the asset management and securities industry with offices in New York, Boston, MA, San Francisco, CA, London and Hong Kong.