Domestic Institutions

At First American, we start by listening. To determine the needs of our sophisticated hedge fund clients we ask intelligent questions and then listen carefully to the answers.

Needs Analysis
Portfolio Reporting
Trading
Soft Dollar Programs
Unique Start-up Solutions

Needs Analysis
At First American, we start by listening. To determine the needs of our sophisticated hedge fund clients we ask intelligent questions and then listen carefully to the answers. Whether you want executions via DVP or a full service prime brokerage relationship provided by Ridge Clearing - First American can accommodate your needs. Our operational team begins the solutions process by assessing the specific requirements of your firm. First American will work with every aspect of your business and existing infrastructure to ensure we have a complete understanding of your operational and technology requirements, as well as your unique business needs.
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Portfolio Reporting
First American provides web-enabled reports that allow hedge fund managers to track the performance of both individual and pooled accounts. Reports include daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual performance calculations versus a manager's chosen index. All income and expenses are fully accrued, ensuring that clients have accurate information. The reports also include the ability to consolidate assets held at other institutions and are available in data format.
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Trading
First American's sales force and sales traders have expertise in working with hedge funds. Whether you have a simple DVP account or you are a full service prime brokerage client - we provide our hedge fund clients with a broad platform of trading services. These include best efforts, agency VWAP, incentive VWAP, guaranteed VWAP, guaranteed Market On Open or Close, Step Outs or Index rebalancing. The firm collaborates with each client to develop a customized execution strategy. First American's goal is to enhance the hedge fund's performance by leveraging an advanced technological infrastructure, access to liquidity, market making and capital commitments with the experience of our trading professionals.

First American can provide a Windows® based order-entry system that routes trades in listed and OTC equities, options, mutual funds, and listed bonds. Delivered through a dedicated circuit or Internet connection, this platform gives our clients execution capabilities through exchanges and all leading electronic communication networks (ECNs). Clients can also report trades executed away from First American in real time, as well as receive intra-day trading P&L and customized data views.

First American is constantly integrating new technologies to enhance the market transparency of our clients orders. Our clients have the ability to directly route order flow from their preferred terminal mainframes directly to our trading desk. This solution creates a completely transparent marketplace for our clients from order-entry to execution. In addition, First American can "soft-dollar" various order-entry systems to enhance our clients' visibility into the execution of their order flow providing a seamless solution for financial institutions to manage their business.

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Soft-Dollar Programs
First American has soft dollar programs that enable you to direct a portion of your commissions towards qualified soft dollar services. First American's soft dollar programs can facilitate payments to your qualified third party vendors.

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Unique Startup Solutions
First American has a network of professionals who specialize in forming hedge funds. From Lawyers and accountants to fund administrators, First American can help you assemble a team of professionals to help you start a new fund, set up a fund-of-funds or master feeder structure or properly wind down an existing fund. We encourage our clients to leverage our experience for their benefit.

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Excellent service
Highest level of client protection

First American employs the processing and clearing expertise of Ridge Clearing and Outsourcing Services Corp. While Ridge provides excellent service and the highest available level of protection for our customer accounts, a major reason we chose Ridge was its commitment to correspondent broker-dealers.  Ridge does not solicit or service private clients, offer asset management services, or produce proprietary research. Ridge does not compete with us—and Ridge will not compete with you. Ridge’s sole focus is servicing their correspondents and their clients, an increasingly atypical situation among established clearing firms.

Ridge is a wholly owned subsidiary of Broadridge Financial Solutions (NYSE: BR),  which was formally a wholly owned subsidiary of Automatic Data Processing (NYSE: ADP). Broadridge has a 44-year history of providing innovative solutions to the financial services industry and publicly-held companies.  Broadridge entered the securities clearing business by purchasing Bank of America Corporation’s U.S. Clearing and Broker-Dealer Services businesses. By 1999, Broadridge was handling over 90% of the investor communications distributions for all securities held of record by banks and brokers in the United States. During their 2006 fiscal year,  Broadridge processed on average approximately $2 trillion per day in fixed income trades. As a member of New York Stock Exchange,  Financial Industry Regulatory Association (FINRA), Euroclear, Cedel and the Citibank Global Custodian Clearance Network, Ridge offers extensive domestic and international clearing capabilities including multi-currency confirmation and statement reporting.  

All accounts held by Ridge are protected through the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC) and customers are afforded the benefits under the Securities Investor Protection Act of 1970. SIPC provides protection up to a $500,000 limit, of which $100,000 may be for cash balances (explanatory brochure available upon request or at www.sipc.org) .  Additionally, Ridge has supplemental account protection through Customer Asset Protection Company (CAPCO), a licensed Vermont insurer which provides “Excess SIPC” protection for the Full Net Equity of Securities and Cash,  with no limitation on aggregate firm or per customer coverage. The additional securities and cash protection is of the same type and nature as provided by SIPC, but without a limit on the amount of coverage. Coverage is provided for the clearing operations of Ridge, which includes all customer accounts that are cleared through Ridge by its introducing broker-dealer clientele.