From Hedgeweek

Calderwood has officially launched and is now open for business in the Cayman Islands, providing experienced independent directors to a range of investment vehicles.

Calderwood has been formed by Ronan Guilfoyle and Wade Kenny, both very well known in the Cayman fund sector, who together have over 17 years’ experience within the governance industry, serving as independent directors on some of the largest funds in the industry.

Guilfoyle was previously a Managing Director at DMS Offshore Investment Services and was significantly involved in the firm’s strategic development, sharing leadership responsibility for its European offices and spearheading its international expansion. As an Executive Director, also at DMS, Kenny provided fund governance services to a large portfolio of hedge fund and private equity clients, in addition to providing management oversight for the Cayman office.

With such depth of experience as directors, Calderwood’s principals are in a unique position, with significant capacity to provide institutional, ‘best-in-class’ service, unburdened by a large number of relationships. Calderwood’s clients, therefore, will benefit from the fullest attention and oversight of some of the most experienced directors in the business.

Typically, the industry’s most experienced investment fund directors will have collected a high number of board appointments over their career, the implications of which have been a constant source of debate and a recurring question for investors and regulators both in Cayman and in other key international financial centres.

“We are extremely excited to officially launch Calderwood and we believe we have an exceptional offering for the investment funds market,” Guilfoyle says. “Our experience with every aspect of the hedge fund business, including successfully guiding funds through the financial crisis and systems that match the needs of our clients with the industry, alongside our ability to focus exclusively on our new clients, is together a very attractive proposition for fund managers in the current climate of heightened risk awareness.”

Initial feedback to the launch of Calderwood has been impressive and the firm has been delighted to see onboard a number of new clients, including a multi-billion dollar suite of funds managed by one of the most recognised investment managers in the industry.

“Business is going well and I predict we will see more of the same as we expand,” Kenny says. “We have had a great reception from prospective clients to the Calderwood approach, in particular our blend of personalised service with an institutional infrastructure.”

Although the firm expects to grow significantly going forward, its principals will strategically chart its growth path to maintain an appropriate ratio of fund numbers to directors, in order to ensure a continued personalised service experience.

In addition to providing independent directors for investment funds, both offshore and onshore, Calderwood will also offer advisory services to distressed funds and structured finance vehicles, as well as board support and independent representation services. “Although independent directors have become synonymous with offshore investment funds, we are seeing a greater interest and need for our expertise with onshore funds, particularly if the Master Fund is an onshore limited partnership or limited liability company,” Guilfoyle says. “Another trend that is emerging is for independent oversight to be utilised in the private equity space.”

Guilfoyle and Kenny’s professional relationship dates back to 2003, from the time they both worked with Admiral Administration Ltd (now Maitland). Having worked with DMS Offshore for ten years and prior to that with EY, as well as Admiral, Guilfoyle has extensive experience advising on corporate governance and regulatory compliance issues, frequently speaking at forums relating to regulatory changes within the industry. Kenny has also held positions with Blue Bay Asset Management, Admiral and KPMG. Over the span of their career as independent directors, they have advised hundreds of investment fund boards and maintained relationships with some of the largest investment managers, institutional investors and key stakeholders within the investment funds industry.

For more on this story go to: http://www.hedgeweek.com/2016/06/01/240112/calderwood-launch-brings-new-independent-director-firm-cayman-islands