Investment Company Institute’s Conference in Washington, DC

Published on June 16, 2015 by Puneet Prakash

Acuity Knowledge Partners was delighted to exhibit and actively participant at the Investment Company Institute’s (ICI) 2015 General Membership Meeting and Service Provider Exhibition on May 6-8, 2015, held at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington, DC. In addition, the conference happened to coincide with ICI’s 75th anniversary year.

The conference was well attended by Chief Compliance Officers (CCOs) across investment firms and financial corporations. Speaker topics revolved around the evolving world of mutual fund regulations and compliance, while panel discussions included topics such as the SEC’s guidance on stress testing fund liquidity and issues on overseeing the distributors of mutual funds (how often to audit distributors).

We exhibit occupied an advantageous position in the exhibit area. Interestingly, We was the only exhibitor that provided compliance outsourcing services. Most other exhibitors promoted fund solutions, technology/distribution solutions, middle-office/execution solutions, etc.

To summarize key takeaways from the conference: Compliance officers have a myriad of pain points to deal with, mostly stemming from the SEC. Compliance officers are specifically concerned about:

• Whether their companies (if they have significant exposure to interest rates) have implemented compliance policies and procedures, and investment and trading controls to ensure their disclosures aren’t misleading
• Ensuring there is an inventory of solutions related to the management of compliance risks
• Defining their firms’ governance framework, testing controls, etc
• Sub-transfer agency arrangements and compliance implications (such as intermediary due diligence, etc)

To know more about our Compliance services, please click here

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