The Vermilions is a fund administration and fund management network with a long history of serving clients both within the Europe and internationally. With roots tracing to 1985 and offices in Amsterdam, Dublin, Geneva, Luxembourg, Sofia (Bulgaria), Zurich, BVI, Cayman Islands, Naperville (USA) and Singapore.

The Vermilions refers to the global network and may refer to one or more of the member firms each of which are separate and independent legal entities. The Vermilions is a network empowered by VBK+CO Group Holding SA, Swiss Financial Services Ltd and PvB Pernet von Ballmoos AG. These are fully independent managed and independently owned firms.

The Vermilions is an independent provider of fund administration, fund management, accounting and compliance services to investment funds, family offices and corporate clients and administers, with over 100 staff, in excess of USD 17bn in investment funds and for family offices, representing a variety of strategies including long only, hedge fund, private equity, real estate, CTA and “fund of funds”.

We are The Vermilions :  Stronger, Bigger and Better

Allies

The Vermilions are the customers’ allies and as such we will uphold the importance of any client relationship. Working with us comes with the benefit of dealing directly with the managing partners of our companies: people who really pay attention, take ownership of issues and walk the talk.

Independent Minds

As boutique providers, The Vermilions bring together people who really like what they do. And it shows: in our can-do attitude and our energy to take matters into our own hands. It also means we can customize our services much more than any large corporate environment would allow.

Deeply Rooted

The Vermilions emphasize long lasting relationships not only towards our clients but also with our staff, our most precious asset. Our staff has been with us for years and we take pride in the accumulated skills, experience and the talent which we are able to offer to our clients. The great care The Vermilions exercise in selecting, developing and retaining talent gives our customers access to some of the most skilled professionals in the industry.

VBK+CO grows its footprint by expanding its Fund Administration practice by acquiring an equity interest in Luxembourg based Radices Fiduciam SA (“Radices”)

June 5, 2018

VBK+CO, a global independent provider of fund administration, accounting and compliance services to investment funds, family offices and corporate clients announced today that it has acquired an equity interest in the Luxembourg based Radices.

Radices was established in 2008 and is supervised by the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (the “CSSF”), the supervisory authority of the Luxembourg financial sector. The firm has, amongst others, the status of Registrar Agent, Corporate Domiciliation Agent, Administrative Agent of the financial sector and Client Communication Agent. Radices is a niche player providing back office solutions to the Luxembourg alternative investment sector and its investors.

Luc Vuurmans, Managing Director of VBK+CO said “The acquisition is part of VBK+CO’s growth plan to expand its business in carefully selected jurisdictions to deliver a broader and stronger range of fund administration and corporate services, addressing the needs of fund management groups and international investors”.

The current management of Radices is composed of Gustave Stoffel and Jean Martin Stoffel. They will bring to VBK+CO their extensive experience within the Luxembourg market and expand the Luxembourg capabilities further in the future.

Dave Bos, Managing Director of VBK+CO commented “As we grow and expand our operations, we need to be where our clients want to do business. Luxembourg is that place and therefore constitutes a natural extension for us. It will be a key part of our network and an important hub for us to provide fund administration and corporate services”.

“We are very excited about our new opportunities with VBK+CO” said Jean Martin Stoffel, CEO of Radices. “We now offer through our association with VBK+CO on a global scale, unequaled experience and professionals in alternative assets, administration, compliance, accounting and financial statement assembly”.

The transaction has been approved by the CSSF and the firm in Luxembourg is now operating under the new name Radices VBK+CO (Luxembourg) SA.

About VBK+CO

VBK+CO has offices in Amsterdam, Geneva, Sofia, Mumbai and The British Virgin Islands and strategic partners in the UK and the USA. The firm is rendering fund administration, accounting, compliance and corporate governance services to investment funds, family offices and corporate clients. VBK+CO administers in excess of USD 12bn in investment funds and for family offices, representing a variety of strategies including long only, hedge fund, private equity, CTA and “fund of funds”.

VBK+CO is regulated by the Dutch Central Bank in The Netherlands, by the CSSF in Luxembourg and by the Financial Services Commission in the British Virgin Islands. The company has in place, on all its processes, an ISAE 3402 Type II audited by Deloitte. ISAE 3402 is a global assurance standard for reporting on controls at a service organization.

About Radices

Radices is a Professional of the Financial Sector in Luxembourg. Its principals have acquired over 40 years’ experience in the Luxembourgish financial sector and specialize in administration services offered to international investors, promoters and family offices active in the securities market, as well as in real estate and private equity management.

The firm was established in 2008 and is supervised by the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF), the supervisory authority of the Luxembourg financial sector.

The Swiss Funds & Asset Management Association SFAMA issued the following media release:

Fund Market Statistics – July 2015

Strong gains once more on the Swiss fund market

Basel, 20 August 2015 – In July 2015, the volume of assets placed in the investment funds covered by the statistics compiled by Swiss Fund Data AG and Morningstar stood at some CHF 894 billion, an increase of around CHF 25 billion or 2.8% month-on-month. The net inflows totaled CHF 3.5 billion.

Sales of UCITS posted net outflows of EUR17 billion in June, compared to net inflows of EUR36 billion in May, according to the latest investment funds factsheet from the European Fund and Asset Management Association (EFAMA). 

This turnaround in net flows can be attributed to large net withdrawals from money market funds during the month.

Long-term UCITS (UCITS excluding money market funds) registered reduced net inflows of EUR18 billion, down from EUR51 billion in May.

Bond funds experienced a turnaround in net flows posting outflows of EUR7 billion, compared to net inflows of EUR9 billion in May.

ISAE 3402 / SSAE 16

International Standard on Assurance Engagements (ISAE) No. 3402 is a standard issued by the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) and Statement on Standards for Attestation Engagements (SSAE) No. 16 is a standard issued by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA).

The scope of the ISAE 3402 standard is: “to provide a report for use by user entities and their auditors on the controls at a service organization that provides a service to user entities that is likely to be relevant to user entities’ internal control as it relates to financial reporting” (IAASB).

SSAE 16 was built upon the ISAE 3402 framework and the standards are essentially the same with a number of deviations. At VBK+CO, as a global service organization, we find it important to comply with both standards. VBK+CO received an unqualified Type I certification issued by Deloitte Risk Services BV.

We are currently in the Type II testing period and we anticipate to obtain full Type II certification, based on calendar year 2014, early 2015. We will update this blog to keep you posted of the latest developments.

We continue to see a need from both Latin America and U.S.-based fund managers for offshore administrative services. To meet with this demand and to provide a solution in the same time zone out of one of the leading jurisdictions for funds, VBK+CO successfully applied for an Investment Business License in the British Virgin Islands to provide fund administration services to mutual funds. The BVI Financial Services Commission issued the license to VBK+CO Fund Services (BVI) Ltd. on June 18, 2014.

Mr. Phillip Fenty and Mr. Luc Vuurmans serve as board members of VBK+CO Fund Services (BVI) Ltd.

• Phillip Fenty is a citizen of the British Virgin Islands and a local business owner. Having worked for many years for Barclays Bank and an accounting firm now belonging to the BDO group of companies, Phillip is experienced both in banking and accounting. He was appointed as a member of the inaugural Board of Commissioners of the B.V.I. Financial Services Commission and continues to serve in that capacity.
• Luc Vuurmans is a managing partner of VBK+CO and has over 25 years of experience in the provision of administrative services for investment funds. Luc’s complete resume can be found on our website (www.vbkservices.com/our-team/).

In addition to providing administration services from the Netherlands, where VBK+CO Fund Services (Netherlands) B.V. is regulated and supervised by the Dutch Central Bank, we are pleased that we are now able offer to our clients an additional solution from the British Virgin Islands.

We are pleased to announce that VBK Fund Services (Netherlands) B.V. has been granted a license by the Dutch Central Bank as per 15 February, 2013.