Alternative Asset Managers face a pressing dilemma. Their focus is rightly on managing their investments and relationships with investors, but they still need to fulfill their duties and responsibilities for their own management company. And if such duties are postponed or under-managed, the fallout, from regulators and investors alike, can jeopardize the success of the entire firm.

This article examines how Investment Managers can tackle the finance function for their own management company, with a focus on the burdens and benefits of the various options. Many Managers begin using some in-house solution, eventually migrating to rely on an outside firm or adding it to the lists of duties for a fund administrator. But a third option is growing in popularity: outsourcing the finance function, by using a “Finance as a Service” model.

For any investment managers about to launch a fund, or who are relatively nascent in their evolution, the clock is ticking. The right choice for serving the finance function of the management company can mean the difference between establishing best practices early, the kind that allows the finance function to stay nimble and responsive for the life of the firm or facing the consequences of bad habits. Habits that began when the Firm chose the easiest solution, rather than one that truly suited their needs.