Funds-as-a-Service, in one paragraph.
Funds-as-a-Service (FaaS) — also known as fund hosting, ManCo-as-a-Service, or a white-label fund platform — lets a fund sponsor launch a regulated fund in the ADGM without building their own Management Company. The sponsor provides the strategy and investor base. NWM provides the FSRA-authorised entity, the regulated portfolio management, the compliance and risk infrastructure, and the coordination of the fund's service providers. The sponsor gets to market faster, operates leaner, and keeps focus on investment strategy rather than regulatory infrastructure.
Why sponsors use FaaS instead of building their own ManCo
Setting up a standalone FSRA-authorised ManCo takes 9–18 months, requires US$250k–500k in regulatory capital, and demands a full-time compliance officer, risk officer, money-laundering reporting officer, and supporting governance infrastructure. Ongoing annual cost typically runs US$500k–US$1M per year before any fund activity. For a sponsor launching a single specialist strategy, or a first fund to test investor appetite, this overhead is rarely justifiable.
FaaS collapses the timeline and the cost structure. A fund hosted by NWM can be authorised and ready to take subscriptions in as little as 8–12 weeks. The sponsor pays a setup fee and an ongoing management fee (typically bps-based on AuM) that is a fraction of running a standalone ManCo. The regulatory authorisation is already in place. The infrastructure is already running.
What NWM delivers under a FaaS engagement
- Fund incorporation — structuring, legal form selection (OEIC, CEIC, PCC, ICC, LP), ADGM Registration Authority filings, FSRA Offering Document and Prospectus drafting and lodgement.
- Regulated portfolio management — NWM as the authorised fund manager, with investment discretion aligned to the mandate and sponsor oversight through the fund's governance structure.
- Compliance and risk — full compliance monitoring, AML/CFT oversight, FSRA regulatory reporting, risk management, investment restriction monitoring.
- Service provider coordination — appointment and ongoing management of administrator, custodian, and auditor; sponsor input on preferred providers welcomed.
- Investor onboarding oversight — the fund administrator performs KYC; NWM oversees the process and confirms regulatory compliance.
- Ongoing fund operation — NAV sign-off, annual audit coordination, investor communications, fund valuations, regulatory returns.
Who the service is for
FaaS suits sponsors who: have a defined strategy and an investor base (or confidence in building one); want a regulated vehicle without the overhead of a standalone ManCo; value individual structuring over off-the-shelf product; prefer direct access to senior management over routed relationships. Typical sponsors include single-family offices launching a first fund, asset managers expanding into the GCC, strategy spin-outs from larger firms, and specialist managers launching thematic vehicles.
The typical engagement
A FaaS engagement starts with a structured conversation about the mandate — strategy, target investor base, liquidity profile, jurisdictional considerations, timeline. From that discussion NWM produces a structuring memorandum proposing the fund vehicle, regulatory classification (QIF or Exempt), service-provider roster, fee structure, and indicative timeline. On agreement, incorporation and authorisation proceed in parallel with service provider onboarding; the fund typically opens for subscription 8–12 weeks from engagement.