Hedge Funds
Merrill DataSite - secure reporting solution to help you maintain strict confidentiality
Today’s communication challenge
With hedge fund reporting increasingly in the spotlight, investors are seeking ever higher levels of timely disclosure as a precursor to investing and maintaining their current allocations.
Traditionally, disclosure by hedge funds has been undertaken piecemeal and through non-secure means. Documents have typically been e-mailed or downloaded from the manager’s website, with no control over forwarding or use. Now there is a more secure way - Merrill DataSite.
A secure solution
Merrill DataSite is a complete and confidential way to manage a fund’s documentation and data reporting. Accessible online or through seamless routing from the manager’s website, Merrill DataSite enables consistent disclosure to multiple parties, while retaining the direct link between the manager and each individual user. By providing a secure repository for all fund documentation, Merrill DataSite offers broad applications across the life of a fund, assisting with:
- Fund launch and initial marketing exercise
- Pre-investment in addition to ongoing due diligence
- Regular investor monitoring and risk reporting
- Counterparty and regulatory reporting
- Fund board liaison
- Third party fund administrator reporting
- Managed account reporting
Using Merrill DataSite as a hosting platform, all relevant documents are captured and indexed to a secure online database. Because all rights are designated by the hedge fund administrator, security and control are guaranteed. Each user’s ability to view, print or access source documents is set up by the client administrator and can be changed at any time. Automatic watermarks deter unauthorized transmission. Merrill DataSite provides useful tools, including detailed user tracking and audit capability, Q&A and full word search, along with user alerts for new documents.
The ease of Merrill DataSite's file management process, together with 24/7 project management support will greatly improve the efficiency of investor and counterparty reporting. A client-specific DataSite can also be branded and linked directly to a manager's website, providing a low cost, but highly secure environment.
Merrill DataSite enhances the management of fund documents
In the world of secure document management, Merrill DataSite is the financial industry’s acknowledged leader. Many of the world’s leading private and public companies rely on Merrill DataSite to manage information disclosure for a wide range of transactions, including mergers, acquisitions and disposals; private-placements; and class-action litigation suits.
Merrill DataSite allows hedge fund managers to maintain tight control and provides insight into user behavior and actions on a page-by-page basis. Outputs ranging from risk analytics to third party administrator reports can be created while searches for any word or phrase can cover the entire database - a very powerful resource for all users.
Security and confidentiality are our highest priority
Merrill DataSite is the world's only ISO27001- accredited platform for operations in the United States and Europe, with unrivaled security and confidentiality levels. From the moment a fund manager uploads sensitive documents, Merrill delivers an unbroken, end-to-end “chain of custody” using our people, facilities, processes and technologies. Comprehensive services range from scanning and indexing to project management and technical support. Our employees execute letters of confidentiality, and we are audited annually (both internally and by a third party) to ensure that our IT infrastructure and processes remain strong. We offer secure Internet access and a SAS 70 Type ll environment. And with our deep roots in financial and legal document solutions, Merrill has been a trusted provider of confidential content-related solutions to Fortune 500 and FTSE100 companies for more than 40 years.
The premier tool in the industry
By offering secure, simultaneous access, full text-search capabilities and robust reporting tools, Merrill DataSite delivers maximum flexibility and efficiency. With Merrill DataSite, a hedge fund administrator can gain greater insight and control, while delivering the information that fund investors and counterparties are demanding.
Manager benefits
- Security – manager can choose, by user, who can see, print or download a document. The document is watermarked with the user’s email address and the date/ time viewed.
- Intuitive User Interface – the design is based on Microsoft Outlook and Windows Explorer, making it easy to use; a manager can upload and share documents in seconds.
- Website Routing – access directly from manager’s website makes this a cost-efficient and secure enhancement to a manager’s own website.
- Audit Trail – real-time reports detail exactly who reviewed which documents, down to page level, providing a complete historic record and avoiding subsequent disputes.
- Service Platform – 24 hours, 365 days of the year, IT support and Project Management teams help users get the most from the system.
- No Capital Cost – turnkey solution with a simple monthly fee per fund and no user/ license charges.
User Features
- Investor Document Management – efficient and robust storage and management of all investor facing documents in one place.
- Access – unlimited for all users worldwide, including Search and Q&A functionality through Internet, with no software upload required.
- User Alerts – users can select automatic email alerts to notify them if new documents of interest have been added to the database.
- Consistent Delivery – users know they are viewing the latest available version of a document circulated to all recipients at the same time.
- Search Function – rapidly locate any word or phrase right down to the page level across all site documents, regardless of file type. Merrill DataSite lists each occurrence and highlights each search term.
- Question and Answer Functionality enables users to ask questions and client reporting teams to respond, providing reference to other documents within the DataSite.
- Single Access to Multiple Funds – single username/ password route to a portal accessing all allocations to funds using Merrill DataSite
To learn more, please see our guide on Achieving Security and Transparency within Hedge Fund Reporting
A Trusted partner
Merrill DataSite Virtual Data Room (VDR) is an online deal room that optimizes the due diligence process by transforming the traditional paper data room into a secure online data room, accessible via the Internet. Merrill DataSite offers a secure and highly efficient method of sharing critical business information for electronic due diligence in M&A advisory, banking M&A, mid market M&A review, transfer of small business ownership when selling a company, document warehousing, mergers and acquisitions due diligence, succession in family business or when buying a business, IPO and secondary offerings, asset purchases, venture capital due diligence, bio tech licensing, commercial and corporate real estate ventures, bankruptcies, financial restructure, liquidation analysis for bankruptcy, corporate debt restructuring, preparing for exit strategies, and many other transactions that require extensive document sharing.
Merrill Corporation has been a trusted provider of secure information services to Fortune 500 companies in the financial and legal industries for over 40 years. Since 2002, Merrill DataSite has empowered 1.6 million visitors to perform electronic due diligence on thousands of transactions totaling trillions of dollars in asset value.
It is at the core of Merrill DataSite’s effort to share ideas and practices that can help organizations expand opportunities. Download and read a variety of documents for free, such as international surveys, summaries of field knowledge practical guides, and Case Studies of our clients and partners, from the DataSite Knowledge Center>>
For more information about how a virtual data room solution can improve the security and efficiency of your disclosure process, e-mail Info@datasite.com.
