STRATEGIC FINANCIAL GUIDANCE FOR EMERGING MANAGERS

For many GPs, managing the fund’s finances can be a daunting task that takes time and energy away from core business functions. Our fractional finance services provide the strategic guidance fund managers need, filling a critical information gap currently lacking in today’s back office market. You’ll receive expert-level support from a team of seasoned venture-focused finance experts who can advise on complex financial matters, assist with budgeting and long-term planning, and help you implement institutional-level reporting best practices and good financial hygiene to ensure accurate and timely reporting.

WHAT WE DO

Fractional CFO Gallery
Strategic Financial Support
Strategic Financial Support

• Monthly or Quarterly financial reviews

• Budgeting & Scenario Planning

• Lead quarterly valuation conversations

• Oversee launch of new/subsquent funds

• Oversee cash management, including capital calls, distributions, lines of credit, etc.

• Manage vendor relationships including but not limited to fund admin, tax and audit

• Maintain and expand financial controls

Reporting
Reporting

• Create and maintain custom dashboards

• Update 3rd party databases with investment activity

• Assist in creating quarterly reports

• Advanced reporting - custom reports to give you the view you need

Fund Operations & Investor Relations
Fund Operations & Investor Relations

• Coordinate the deal close process

• Oversee the activities of the fund administrator and assist with vendor management

• Coordinate with counsel on ad-hoc legal matters and respond to ad-hoc LP requests regarding their commitment to the fund

• Coordinate the annual audit and tax returns of the fund

• Manage expenses and reimbursements

• Coordinate the legal process for fundraising, including the final execution of all LP documents, and assist with diligence requests during fundraising

• Oversee capital calls and collection, and coordinate LP transfers

• Ensure timely reporting and communications

Regulatory & Compliance
Regulatory & Compliance

• Ensure fund and firm are set up for success for future audits

• Create valuation narratives and portfolio audit confirmations

• Oversee Fund regulatory filings, requests, and inquiries ** for Exempt Reporting Advisers (ERAs) only **

• Maintain insurance coverage

Portfolio Management
Portfolio Management

• Review deal documents and cap tables in preparation for investments

• Obtain and organize portfolio company financials, legal documents, board decks, and stock certificates

• Cap Table Management

• Model Future investment rounds

• KPI tracking

Infrastructure & Process Building
Infrastructure & Process Building

• Creating custom dashboards & regular reporting

• Evaluating and improving existing processes and systems

• Screening and selecting service providers

• General data clean up

WHO IS LEADING THE CHARGE

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Matt DiNardo
Matt DiNardo

Matt joins Strut with a well-rounded CPA background in VC accounting and financial operations. His foundation is rooted in public audit and tax, where he worked with a range of HNW individuals, corporations, and government sectors. From there, Matt moved into private equity fund administration, where he learned the ins and outs of private investment accounting on an institutional level. Leveraging this technical background, he became a Controller at Aduro Advisors, where he constructed teams to manage fund clients through their reporting, transaction, and vendor needs. Through this knowledge of building teams focused on emerging and seasoned fund managers, Matt was promoted to Onboarding Controller for Aduro. In this role, he helped service a rotating set of 80-100 VC funds, setting up their initial firm needs and standardizing their historical information. Matt graduated from the University of Richmond with an accounting degree concentrating in finance.

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Lauren McDavid
Lauren McDavid

Lauren started her career at a Big 4 public accounting firm in their audit practice, where she specialized in large-scale audits of Fortune 100 technology, SaaS, and media companies. She has a unique private sector background ranging from working in-house at a tech startup to venture capital fund administration, including 5.5 years at Aduro Advisors, where she oversaw the back office functionalities for numerous emerging venture capital funds managing over $2.5B in AUM. She graduated from the University of Colorado with a BS in Economics and an MS in Accounting.

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Beverly Tang
Beverly Tang

Beverly brings 17 years of alternative investment fund experience from audit/tax and fund administration to the in-house finance department. She graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara with a Business Economics, emphasis in Accounting degree. After graduating, Beverly did seven years at a public accounting firm where she specialized in audit and tax work for alternative investment funds including hedge and VC/PE. She went in-house as a controller for a Hedge Fund before joining Aduro Advisors, a premier Fund Administrator for VCs. During her seven years there, she worked her way up to being their Senior Technical Director. She now works with various Ventures Capital Funds on a fractional basis as their CFO, providing strategic planning and ensuring a smooth connection between the firm and its service providers.

Beverly was born and raised in San Francisco, CA, and moved to Oahu, Hawaii, in 2018 to soak up the island sun.

LET’S GET STARTED!

Email bd@strutconsulting.com or fill out the form below to get in touch about our services!

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

  • (1) Similar to fund administrators, Strut has insight and visibility into the inner workings of multiple funds and their complex issues. Our clients benefit from the learnings and best practices we glean from our experience supporting different fund sizes, strategies, structures, and financial matters.

    (2) We operate similarly to independent outsourced CFOs but have the cross-team coverage and continuity of service in times of sickness, out-of-office, maternity/paternity leave, holidays, and vacations that independent individuals do not have.

    (3) Not only do we have multiple finance experts on staff who add to our wealth and diverse financial experience and expertise, but we also have a broader team of experts who can provide support and guidance in the following areas: management company and fund operations, compliance implementation for ERAs, fundraising and investor relations, events, marketing and communications, and HR and talent. Beyond sharing knowledge and expertise in these core areas across our team, Strut clients are able to access our experts and additional service offerings either (1) in an ad hoc capacity for critical moments at a significantly more affordable price point or (2) are able to add on longer-term support in another area while still staying within budget and limiting the total number of vendors they are engaged with.

  • Our team has a wealth of experience across fund administration, accounting, audit, and both in-house and outsourced CFO capacities. We have the technical accounting, financial operations, and strategic financial expertise needed to ensure all of our clients are operating with best practices enabling them to build best-in-class firms.

  • As a GP, you will still need to —

    • Be the ultimate approval and sign off on financials.

    • Manage your investor letters.

    • Manage the valuations of all investments. Fund admins will usually do the first iteration with the info they have, usually the next round of financing that the fund participated in. Then Strut can work with you to fill in the gap of other investments where funds did not participate or if the company warrants a modeled approach, usually through 3rd party valuation specialists. Strut can help facilitate the inputs, but the GP(s) ultimately would need to approve the final outputs.

    • Hop on occasional calls with audit, tax, and legal.

    • Approve wires.

    • Be the approver/signer of annual audits and tax-related items/returns.

    • Approve legal interpretations.