Desley Tan joined Trustmoore in 2021 as Commercial Director – Asia. He is based in the Singapore office and leads commercial efforts for fund services in the region. Together with his team, he provides a full suite of offerings to both open and close-ended funds and is responsible for executing commercial strategies to accelerate new business growth. He was promoted to Managing Director for Trustmoore Singapore in January 2022, where his remit expanded to business development for the Asian region and responsibility for the P&L of the office.
Trustmoore is a management owned, global corporate services company providing fund administration, corporate expansion, structured finance, capital markets and private wealth solutions. The firm is highly client centric, choosing to adopt a personalised and tailored approach.
With offices in global financial centres, Trustmoore delivers corporate services in a non-corporate way. The group has enjoyed substantial organic growth, while remaining fully owned by its founders and management. Trustmoore is independent and unaffiliated to nor funded by any private equity firm or legal, tax, audit firm or financial institution. This allows the firm to operate without conflicts and always with the best interests of our clients at heart.
Experience and Skills:
Mike Sim (MS): “How has your diverse background, including financial services and alternative investment funds, shaped your approach to fund services?”
Desley Tan (DT): I started my career in a sales role and have not looked back since. Regardless of the firm I work for and the type of services or products on offer, my approach has always revolved around listening. I prefer to approach every meeting with a beginner’s mind.
Every discovery meeting or call involves listening without judgement whilst trying to uncover what their priorities are. In today’s funds ecosystem, there are too many firms that can perform basic fund administration services. Most fund service providers are too inundated with administrative duties that they fail to genuinely understand and be concerned about our clients’ businesses and commercial objectives.
In my current team, we invest time to know our clients, grow with them, and even allocate extra resources to settle their administrative tasks that may fall outside our agreed work scope.
Desley with group of industry partners
Mike Sim (MS): “Can you share specific instances where your advisory role significantly impacted fund managers’ decisions?”
Desley Tan (DT): Stopping short of sharing specific cases, I work with a panel of partners from the funds ecosystem. Having developed a network and a rough understanding of what our partners’ niche lies in, I can act more effectively as a matchmaker. With that knowledge and network, it is possible to help clients build a dream team to work with particular fund sizes, strategies, investment geographies and cultures. I bring up culture and personality type because the service provider and fund manager need to have a basic level of chemistry. I know exactly which professionals from my network I can pull together and form a SEAL team that makes the fund setup and continuation a success.
Team Formation:
Mike Sim (MS): “What strategies do you employ when building and managing a team for fund services?”
Desley Tan (DT): A big part of why I do what I do, is because I’m an avid fan of the football/championship manager game. Teambuilding and management is one of the most challenging and therefore exciting aspects of my role. Sometimes you inherit a team and you have to be super resourceful to fit a square peg in a round hole. Sometime you land in a privileged position like Eric Ten Hag (Manchester United manager). He was given a lot of freedom and resources to build his dream team. Now the downside is that if results are poor, you run out of excuses. In team building, do we want to be an offensive (strong in client management) or technical team (excellent at delivering accounting services and investor reports)? All fund admins would want to aim for both. In Trustmoore, each one of our accountants can be sent to a corporate party to socialise and mingle, as well as deliver the NAV reports with pinpoint accuracy.
I try to look beyond hard skills when hiring, but also how well the candidate communicates with clients and the social aspect they bring to the team.
Trustmoore Group at a glance
Mike Sim (MS): “How do you ensure your team stays aligned with the evolving landscape of fund management?”
Desley Tan (DT): I think that the easiest way to stay abreast of industry developments is meeting people and noting the talking points. This way, we can be exposed to the latest trends. As much as possible, I try to bring my team to meetings. We make an effort to go for seminars and networking events together. People think of accounting as a back office job, but you will gain additional exposure in Trustmoore that helps to develop your professional network and industry knowledge.
Trustmoore is willing to invest in courses like private equity or hedge fund programs for fund accountants to gain deep industry knowledge. One cannot be a competent fund services professional without understanding much about the industry that they are helping to service!
Career Transition:
Mike Sim (MS): “Having transitioned from KPMG to your current role, what advice do you have for professionals looking to shift their careers within the financial services industry?”
Desley Tan (DT): Regardless of the product/service you are offering, you need to be skilled in client management and internal stakeholder management. Complement that with solid work ethics and you will be successful. Business development professionals should be adaptable to the evolving market. The principles to lead sourcing, treating people right, listening to them, networking, keeping a disciplined approach to the sales process, is the same for each and every company I have been in.
Try to add value beyond the job description. If you are in a BD role, get to know your marketing colleagues really well and you have another army that will back you up during a last-minute campaign/event. You can also volunteer to be the welfare head and organise internal events to raise everyone’s spirits. That is how you land a job regardless of the industry. Employers will get in line to hire you if you are a multi-faceted professional.
Starting a Fund:
Mike Sim (MS): “What are the key factors that 1st time fund managers should keep in mind when launching a fund?”
Desley Tan (DT): Get the investment thesis right, put forth a very compelling and distinctive story, make your potential investors feel invested even before they committed any capital. Working with many first time fund managers at Trustmoore, I have heard many of our clients’ pitches. Timing is crucial, if the bigger boys are struggling to fundraise – what is your value differentiator that will sway investors your way? You also have to be realistic about your target fund size and be willing to network excessively but intelligently.
The best kick-starter for fund managers, is having a reputable cornerstone investor. Once you reel in the big fish, the smaller ones will follow. I have seen clients aiming for smaller fund assets under management and succeeded at meeting their objectives. These are a diligent breed of managers who raise funds the hard way, but still manage to launch their fund at the target fund size.
With Patrick, AWM Assurance and Venture Hub Leader at PwC Singapore
Get a good lawyer and tax advisor for the fund launch, if not their inexperience might delay the fund formation process. A good fund administrator (à la Trustmoore) will be your chaperone during fund launch, reviewing operational aspects in the PPM and ensuring your eleventh hour requests are well attended to.
Timing for Fund Launch:
Mike Sim (MS): “Is there an optimal time during the year to launch a fund? What factors influence this decision?”
Desley Tan (DT): If you have a solid investment track record, and the investor network, it is not the fundraising winter. It can be a great time for you to shine while others are in the dark. If you are a big-name fund manager, you are probably not too worried about timing your fund launch.
Outlook for 2024:
Mike Sim (MS): “As we step into 2024, what is your overall outlook on the fund services landscape in Singapore? Are there specific trends or developments you anticipate shaping the industry this year?”
Desley Tan (DT): There are 250 fund service providers that the MAS have noted in their 2022 asset management survey. I would attribute this to the success that the MAS have had in attracting fund managers and funds to move to Singapore. Without doubt, Singapore is a good location to domicile the funds – we are business friendly. New entrants to the market also help to intensify competition amongst service providers, providing more options than ever to fund managers.
However, not every fund service provider is invested in the Singapore asset eco-system. I see an increasing trend of new entrants trying to get on the VCC and family office gravy train. They perform the operational work overseas and do not see place as much value on contribution back to the Singapore job market and economy. Once the MAS starts to scale back on incentives to attract new AUM, fund managers might not get the service standards that you were promised. The fund management business is about track record and reputation. As a licensed fund manager, would you take on additional risks by working with a new (and cheaper) kid on the block? Or would you provide additional comfort to your investors by working with a more reputable administrator?
With the influx of new players, it is crucial for fund managers to separate the weed from the chaff.
Another not so recent trend that we see is the flurry of M&A activities happening among other fund administration groups. I think this creates opportunities for the small to mid-sized fund administrators. With the higher turnover in larger fund administration houses, there is a flight to safety. Fund managers want comfort that their point of contact that they have developed a nice partnership with, is someone they can call upon in the future. With turnover issues, you could be in a situation where your account manager is rotated three times in a year. That means you will need to explain the nuances and idiosyncrasies in your business and your fund thrice!
Generative AI:
Mike Sim (MS): “How do you see generative AI impacting fund services and the broader financial industry?”
Desley Tan (DT): Fund administration in Singapore is not a regulated business yet, however that does not mean that we live in the Wild Wild West. We service clients who are more often than not, regulated by the central bank (Monetary Authority of Singapore).
Fund administrators have used software for years to automate work. However, technology is not a catch-all solution. As fund administrators deal with investor money, it is a highly sensitive business and mistakes are not tolerated. Therefore, there is a decent amount of cross checking that must be done by skilled fund accountants.
As a fund administrator, your biggest weapon in your arsenal is your reputation. We guard said reputation with our lives (and compliance procedures).
Trustmoore Expertise
ESG and Sustainability:
Mike Sim (MS): “Do you believe integrating sustainability principles enhances decision-making for fund managers?”
Desley Tan (DT): A substantial portion of the funds that we are helping to launch are climate, impact and sustainable funds. With E given the most spotlight among E, S and G. If you are aiming at fundraising from an institutional investor, you need to acknowledge that they would most likely have an ESG checklist that your fund would need to comply with.
In a FT opinion piece, Aswath Damodaran talks about how the ESG investing framework is facing headwinds. However, I think that ESG theme funds in Asia have just gaining traction. In Singapore, it feels like every other fund launch is an impact or sustainability focused fund. I believe ESG investment is here to stay, and that integrating sustainability principles should be balanced with the fund’s thesis – is it to deliver alpha or is it skewed towards “doing good”?
Sound Bite Request:
Mike Sim (MS): “Can you share with us a sound bite?”
Desley Tan (DT): “Listen more than you talk.”
Being an extrovert, I need to make a conscious effort to let others lead the dialogue. I constantly remind myself of this principle that I try to live by.
Mike Sim with Desley Tan
Thank you, Desley for taking time to share your insights on Trustmoore and a client-centric approach to fund services.
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