Nova Scotia is slated to become San Francisco-based Conifer Financial Services’ fastest-growing global centre for middle-office and fund accounting services, the company has announced.
Conifer’s Nova Scotia office provides fund accounting services, investor services and middle office support to hedge funds, private equity and venture capital funds as well as asset owners such as foundations and endowments. Those services will be extended under the planned expansion.
“The growth will provide opportunities for university and college graduates with strong backgrounds in finance and accounting, as well as accountants with various certifications and other experienced professionals with similar backgrounds,” says Mel Rusinak, spokeswoman for Nova Scotia Business Inc. (NSBI) in Halifax.
The proposed expansion comes with financial support from NSBI. The province’s business-development agency has inked a new payroll rebate agreement with Conifer to encourage growth. Under the terms of the deal, if the company creates 350 jobs over seven years, the maximum growth expected, it is eligible to earn up to approximately $5.2 million in payroll rebates.
In that same period of time, Conifer would spend $60.75 million in salaries and new employees would pay provincial personal income taxes of about $6.4 million, NSBI says. If fewer than 350 jobs are created, a smaller payroll rebate will be offered.
“We have worked closely with Conifer to ensure that Nova Scotia would continue to be part of the firm’s future expansion plans,” says Laurel Broten, NSBI’s president and CEO in a statement.
Conifer, which has more than 200 clients worldwide and more than $110 billion of combined assets under administration, established its fund administration office in Halifax in 2013 after being offered a $1.3-million incentive. The establishment of the Halifax office was also a part of the firm’s ongoing efforts to grow its North American business.
At the time, Halifax was earmarked to become Conifer’s key centre for hedge fund administration because of its highly educated and skilled labour force, low staff turnover and a high quality of life.
Conifer, which did not respond to multiple requests for comment, has company in Halifax. Since 2006, the province has marketed its capital city actively as a global centre for middle- and back-office financial services, and has attracted more than 14 companies to set up shop, including Citco Fund Services and Marsh Captive Solutions. According to Statistics Canada, jobs in the financial services sector in Nova Scotia increased by 21% from 2003 to 2013, when the overall job growth in the province grew by only 6%.
“About 10 years ago, NSBI first attracted new, international financial services companies as part of the mix of companies here. Today, Nova Scotia has attracted some of the top financial services in the world,” Broten says.
In 2012, KPMG LLP rated Halifax the fasted-growing hedge fund administration centre in Canada; the financial services sector now comprises more than 3,600 offices employing approximately 19,000 people. In 2014, the sector accounted for approximately 6.4% of the province’s gross domestic product.
Credit for the sector’s growth is often accorded to NSBI, which was named best business development agency in Canada this year in the Acquisition International Hedge Fund Awards.