Sedna Releases NorthStar Waterfall Automation Software for Waterfall and Incentive Fee Calculations

Sedna, a technology and software support firm, launched the NorthStar Waterfall Automation software that provides automation and transparency for waterfall and incentive fee calculations. Exclusively designed for the alternative investments industry including private equity firms, credit funds, hedge funds, fund administrators and limited partner investors, this web-based application is set to automate complex waterfall calculations and projections. NorthStar can help firms migrate from complex spreadsheets to a standardized and validated process, which will equip them to achieve greater efficiencies and reduce operational risks arising from calculation errors.

With NorthStar , companies can also benefit from improved productivity across various departments like Accounting and Operations, Compliance and Auditing, Investor Relations etc. as a single data location would be used to manage all processes. Customized reports can be generated quickly, and investors can be provided with detailed breakdown of calculation steps as is the need of the hour.

Need for Automated Business Applications

If you take a look at the growth in the alternative investments industry in the last decade, you will see that it is mainly due to a surge in alternative assets such as managed investments in hedge funds, real estate, private equity, commodities, and infrastructure, and these are set to outpace traditional assets like stocks and bonds in the coming years. Moreover, institutional investors are increasingly demanding transparent information on performance and fees. To thrive in this dynamic, competitive environment, alternative fund managers must not only sharpen their risk-management skills and product expertise but also gear up to meet the increasing regulatory reporting and transparency requirements.

With the growing demand for transparency and accuracy, fund managers must adopt streamlined processes for functions such as CRM, investor allocations, reporting and even complex tasks like the waterfall calculations. One no longer can rely on Excel spreadsheets for such critical tasks as errors are quite common and can lead to serious operational or reputational risks. There is also a need for an independent verification with all the regulatory scrutiny these days. Alternative investments fund managers are therefore turning to automated solutions to address these issues.

Benefits of Using NorthStar Waterfall Automation

  • Allows firms to customize the calculation process depending on the specific fund’s requirements.
  • Provides the flexibility to design most calculations without the need for coding.
  • Seamlessly integrates with Excel, general ledger/ cash flows, and other core applications thereby making validations much easier.
  • Reduces processing times for waterfall and incentive fee calculations from days to minutes.
  • Enables firms to take faster decisions with quicker access to data in a single location.
  • Firms can replace hundreds of Excel files with a standardized workflow and ensure higher accuracy with the removal of manual methods of calculations.

With these benefits in hand, fund managers can focus on realigning their businesses to meet the emerging needs and above all, innovate in terms of investment strategy, fund structures and differentiate offerings to clients.

About Sedna

Sedna is a boutique technology and software support firm that offers customized solutions exclusively for the alternative investment sector. These innovative solutions help firms automate, establish, and maintain high-efficiency processes while reducing overall expenditure. The solutions also support leading 3rd party software applications like Investran, Tableau, Workday and Microsoft BI. For more information on Sedna and the NorthStar Waterfall Automation Software, please visit https://www.sednainc.com.

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