Custom House Global Fund Services Opens San Francisco Office

NEW YORK, NY and CHICAGO, IL and SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwired - Jan 29, 2014) - Custom House Global Fund Services, a leading provider of financial services to the alternative investment sector, today announced the opening of a San Francisco office as part of its continuing expansion in the US.

Financial services veteran Gary Smith has joined Custom House as a Commercial Director and is responsible for continuing Custom House growth ambitions on the West Coast, opening a San Francisco office, and ongoing business development. He will report to Scott Price, Head of Sales for the Americas, who is located in the company's US headquarters in Chicago.

"Our expansion to the West Coast is part of Custom House's strategic plan for the US, which we continue to view as an important region and engine of growth for the alternative asset sector. Gary will lead our West coast efforts from San Francisco, which is currently experiencing a surge in asset manager across various vehicles including hedge, private equity, venture capital funds and real estate as well as managed account and managed account platforms," said Mark Hedderman, CEO, Custom House Global Fund Services Ltd, which opened a New York office last October and has eight global locations, with over $40 billion of assets under administration and 200 staff.

"Custom House recently launched Gateway, a web based reporting platform that connects fund servicing with solutions across the middle and back office, designed specifically for US alternative investment managers. With a West Coast presence, we can offer local investment management firms a complete suite of administration solution backed by state-of-the-art technology and a global 24 hour services model," said Scott Price.

Mr. Smith has over 20 years' experience as a financial services professional across venture capital, private equity and hedge funds as well as corporate finance, capital introductions and financings, sales and marketing initiatives. His experience on the West Coast includes investment banking, private placements and sales positions with Pacific Growth Equities, Hambrecht & Quist/JPMorganH&Q, and NationsBanc Montgomery Securities/Banc America Securities. Mr. Smith holds a joint JD/MBA from the Northwestern University School of Law and the Kellogg School of Management, and a BA from UCLA.

About Custom House Global Fund Services

Established in Ireland in 1989, Custom House Global Fund Services, part of the TMF Group, offers a wide variety of financial services to its clients. Over the past 20 years, Custom House has evolved into a global leader in the financial services business with offices in Chicago, New York, Dublin, Malta, Luxembourg, and Singapore. Custom House specializes in fund services for alternative investment funds, which include many varied investment strategies. Custom House has over US$40 billion in assets under administration, provides administration services to more than 200 managers, trading through over 500 investment funds, for over 150 of which Custom House provides daily dealing NAVs. For more information on Custom House, visit www.customhousegroup.com.

About TMF

TMF Group provides global accounting, legal, HR, payroll, compliance and reporting services and has over 100 offices in 75 jurisdictions. For more information, visit www.tmf-group.com.