Quay Financials is one of Gibraltar’s expanding financial services companies. Quay has taken an innovative approach to alternative fund management which has helped it develop an economies of scale model that is particularly useful for start-ups and emerging managers.

Quay Financials Investment Management, a division of Quay Financials, identifies and selects hedge fund managers. It offers a number of structural options to set up an offshore fund vehicle ideal for spin-out teams and emerging managers wanting to launch their own hedge fund.

The Quay Umbrella Fund offers investors a way to participate in alternatives. The investment management division provides services to the experienced investor fund (EIF) which has been created under the protected cell company (PCC) structure. This is the Quay Umbrella Fund PCC. Individual cells can be easily created under this and an umbrella structure used to add further funds (or cells) in a cost-effective and timely way to the platform.

The economies of scale extend to the use of service providers: fund administration is by Grant Thornton (Gibraltar) with SG Hambros as the custodian, ADM ISI as the principal broker, Deloitte & Touche (Gibraltar) as auditor and legal counsel provided by Hassans International.

In addition to the alternative investment side of the business, Quay also has a broking division that provides institutions and professional clients with a package of optimised execution-only, advisory and full service brokerage products including direct, algorithmic and electronic trading in listed and over-the-counter securities, market information, instantaneous order execution and correspondent clearing services.

Chad Thomson, in charge of investment management and prime brokerage sales, is in an optimistic mood when looking at the future of the business in Gibraltar and the development of the hedge funds sector in particular. He says over the last year, business has picked up and he expects to be adding more funds as well as managed accounts to the platform in 2010. At the same he has ambitious plans for providing services to brokers who are looking to relocate to Gibraltar from London.

He says Gibraltar is a “fantastic jurisdiction” and is keen, like many in the territory, to ensure the jurisdiction is being promoted as a good location for hedge funds and other alternatives as well as the various services related to the sector.

“We have big aspirations. We are very much in our infancy but we are still ambitious and are aiming to launch more services and extend existing ones in 2010,” concludes Thomson.