Industry veterans launch independent risk advisory firm Catalina Partners

Date: Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Author: Hedgeweek.com

With growing concerns over hedge fund due diligence and fraudulent investment schemes, two investment industry veterans have formed Catalina Partners to focus on the business risk management needs of both institutional investors and investment advisers.

The firm's co-founders Patricia Watters (pictured) and Mason Snyder bring substantial experience from the investment industry. For the past seven years, Watters was a partner, chief operating officer and chief compliance officer at fund of hedge funds manager Pacific Alternative Asset Management.

Snyder is a former director in the regulatory and capital markets consulting practice at Deloitte & Touche, where he spent nine years assisting investors and advisors with their operations and business risk needs.

The founders say they are launching Catalina Partners at a time of growing concerns about the adequacy of fund manager due diligence, fraudulent investment schemes and SEC demands for risk management programs and public outcry for increased regulation of the investment industry.

The firm will offer investors an alternative to in-house business risk management and do so with the added benefit of independence and focus on best practices.

For institutional investors such as pension plans, endowments, foundations, family offices and separate account managers, Catalina offers the full range of operational due diligence services, including screening for fraud and risk concentration.

For investment advisers, the firm offers a suite of business risk management services that includes operational risk assessments; process, controls and governance reengineering; and operational risk monitoring. Support for investment advisors includes start-up work like infrastructure and back-office set up, data management and security, and selection of third-party service providers.

The founders say they are receiving interest particularly from hedge fund managers who want to retain clients and attract new prospects in this demanding environment.

"Being able to tell clients that you have an independent view on various aspects of your business operations has become an important message for fund managers to be able to tell their investors," Snyder says. "And in this environment, they need to take every opportunity to prove their commitment to risk mitigation."