The Challenge
At first, everything started out quite tenable. Markets were few. Investment products were familiar. Questions were relayed to regional legal counsel.
For a Hong Kong-based Hedge Fund, managing Shareholding Disclosure and its associated thresholds and filings manually was a process, but one they felt they had under control. A limited number of jurisdictions provided a sense of confidence that all relevant rules could be researched, and then written into policies reflected in order management systems. However, following a decision to expand into new markets in Europe and Asia, the challenges mounted swiftly and the compliance burden became a significant problem almost immediately.
“As we expanded, we realized this approach was unsustainable,” a team member shared. “We even engaged European lawyers, but they would only send us compiled documents. They were never able to verify whether our positions actually required reporting or if our interpretation was correct. They couldn't do that.”
The lack of clear, actionable compliance guidance, along with the growing complexity of instruments and markets, underscored the need for a scalable and automated solution.
The Solution
With strict criteria and standards to meet, the firm was introduced to FundApps by a third party. What stood out immediately was FundApps’ unique global coverage and ability to deliver clear reporting requirements across jurisdictions - something no other solution providers or legal teams were able to offer in the firm’s evaluations.
“I was looking for compliance software that could monitor our holdings daily and directly tell us exactly what needs to be reported and what doesn't… I still haven’t found any direct competitors,” said one team member.
“I've noticed this: the great advantage of your system is that one person is enough. You don't need two people to double-check…This helps me significantly cut down the time dedicated to Shareholding Disclosure, enabling me to focus on other priorities.”
While implementation surfaced some data quality challenges early on, the FundApps team was able to quickly identify the root causes and provide clear solutions. The introduction of Data Adapter not only expedited the integration process but also significantly improved automation and data accuracy.
Once live, the platform quickly became central to the firm’s workflow. “The system simply tells you exactly what needs to be done each day, and that's incredibly helpful.” With full confidence in the results produced by the Shareholding Disclosure solution, the business was in place to scale, trade new products, and do so in new markets around the world.
Shareholding Disclosure monitors requirements in over 100 jurisdictions for beneficial ownership, short selling and takeover panels. Position data is checked against Shareholding Disclosure, Takeover Panel and Short Selling rules enriched with legal, market and regulatory data from LSEG and Bloomberg. The rules engine identifies if, where, and when disclosures are required, notifying clients to which regulator they must be sent. More than 200 forms are automatically generated in the Shareholding Disclosure solution.
The Result
FundApps didn’t just save time - it saved massive amounts of frustration while directly enabling new strategies. Complicated checks that local counsel avoided, like German short position calculations, became simple back and forth with the FundApps team - and ended with reassurance that the client’s numbers were right all along.
What was once a patchwork of manual checks and legal uncertainty was turned into a daily, scalable routine backed by expert support, managed by a single person.FundApps Shareholding Disclosure solution completely reshaped the firm’s compliance process, and they haven’t looked back since.
“The great thing about FundApps is that you're simply very efficient. We have a problem, and you give us the answer… If another hedge fund were considering FundApps, I would absolutely serve as a reference. I'd be happy to help.”
