Fund administrator
Factual definition
A fund administrator is a provider of fund administration and accounting services, often a third party. The mandate can include recordkeeping, net asset value calculations, capital calls and distributions; arrangements vary across funds.
Identify the administrator’s mandate and valuation inputs
Hypothetical: an administrator maintains the fund’s records, calculates net asset value using the agreed inputs and policies, and processes calls, distributions and waterfall calculations under its mandate and the fund documents. The calculation role does not by itself make every valuation input independent.
- NAV
- capital calls
- distributions
- the waterfall math
Reconcile the notice before the money moves
Hypothetical capital call. A fund calls US$500,000.
Assume one investor must fund 20% under the applicable allocation terms, with no exclusions or adjustments. Its notice should request US$100,000.
If a draft notice uses 25% and asks for US$125,000, reconcile the allocation record and governing terms before release.
Once the correct notice is approved, match the receipt to the bank record and investor ledger. An unresolved US$25,000 difference is a specific exception to investigate, not something solved by describing the administrator as independent.
The service agreement should identify preparation, review, approval, payment authority and escalation responsibilities.
Providers such as SS&C describe accounting, reconciliations and NAV work among their services. For a particular fund, identify what was actually contracted.
Also distinguish verifying an allocation or reconciling cash from judging an illiquid investment’s valuation assumptions; completing one does not establish that the other was performed.
Where Fund administrator fits
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