Responsible Entity Services
Our role
Equity Trustees is licenced pursuant to the Corporations Act to carry on a financial services business and to act as Responsible Entity (RE). This includes responsibility for compliance with the registered managed investment scheme constitution and compliance plans, and ongoing satisfaction of legislative and regulatory requirements.
Each registered scheme for which Equity Trustees acts as RE is governed by a constitution. A compliance plan must also be prepared for each registered scheme which describes the key processes, systems and structures that the RE will apply to ensure compliance with the Corporations Act, the schemes’ constitution and financial service laws. The plan is required to be audited annually and the audit report is lodged with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).
Equity Trustees has established compliance plans and supporting compliance reporting procedures which are consistently applied to ensure that the RE continues to meet its obligations. Any obligations of our clients in relation to the compliance plan will be explained at start up. No scheme can be registered without a compliance plan.
In summary, Equity Trustees’ role as Responsible Entity generally incorporates the following:
- Scheme (fund) registration
- Issue of disclosure documents
- Establishing compliance plans and monitoring against regulatory and legislative requirements
- Appointment and monitoring of external service providers (Audit, Custody and Administration)
Our experience
Equity Trustees has experience in acting as Responsible Entity for both retail and wholesale registered (and unregistered) managed investment schemes. Some of the external managers for which Equity Trustees currently acts as Responsible Entity include:
- PIMCO
- BNP Paribas Asset Management
- SG Hiscock & Company
- MIR Investment Management
- Lloyd George Asset Management
- MFS Investment Management
- Orbis Investment Management
Compliance process
As a Responsible Entity or Trustee, Equity Trustees remains responsible for the operation of the schemes and funds and therefore must have in place strong compliance monitoring procedures to ensure that on an ongoing basis, it is able to meet its obligations. Equity Trustees’ internal compliance procedures involve ongoing review of the services being delivered to clients.
In summary, the ongoing monitoring activities of Equity Trustees include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Regular compliance certifications
- Performance reviews and on-site visits
- Monitoring against the delivery and performance of service standards
- Any obligations of our clients in relation to monitoring will be explained at start up.
There is an appropriate management structure in place which has the responsibility of discharging Equity Trustees’ obligations as responsible entity and trustee. Equity Trustees engages a proactive operational compliance team and a full-time internal Auditor to monitor processes and business procedures.
Contact us
To contact us about our Responsible Entity services, please click here.