Service Provider INSIGHT

The fund industry’s most comprehensive SOC review –

Now available for all your critical vendors.

The regulatory emphasis on 3rd-party oversight is greater than ever. As a result, fund families seek a deeper understanding of their vendors’ control environments. Audit reports contain the most reliable intel, but how can funds efficiently capture, analyze, and draw conclusions from the details of each document?

Since 2013, NQR has helped leading fund families review audit reports from the nation’s largest fund distributors. Now, with Service Provider (SP) INSIGHT, you’ll receive the same, trusted audit report review for your transfer agent, custodian, fund accountant, and all other 3rd-party partners.

Eliminate time spent sifting through audit reports
Capture and centralize every control detail
Pinpoint relevant exceptions and gaps
Target follow-up to only high-priority controls
Shift focus to strategy and action planning

Understand dependencies on 4th-party providers
Map user entity controls to internal documentation
Reduce duplication of efforts across divisions
Streamline Board reporting
Limit reliance on questionnaires and certifications

Receive Expert Audit Report Analysis

Analyzing audit reports in-house can be time-consuming and expensive. With INSIGHT, you’ll spend little to no time reading reports internally. Our trained, objective experts review all 3rd and 4th-party control documents so you can shift focus to higher-priority activities.

Compare Findings to Consistent Frameworks

It’s tough to review all SOC reports through a consistent lens. That’s
why our team maps 100% of report content to standardized control frameworks built with an industry working group. You’ll receive meaningful, point-by-point comparisons across vendors and services.

Tailor Reporting to Match Your Needs

Audit reports can cover multiple services with varying relevance to your firm or specific team. INSIGHT categorizes every control detail so you can filter and focus on the areas applicable to you. Reporting will only include data related to your oversight responsibilities.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who subscribes to NQR’s INSIGHT Services?

We provide transfer agent, intermediary, and vendor oversight solutions to the nation’s leading financial institutions, including 8 of the Top 10 mutual fund families and a majority of the Top 50. For a client list or references, please contact NQR.

Which service provider types does NQR review?

Since 2013, our experts have helped fund families review audit reports from the nationwide population of distribution intermediaries. We’ve now expanded our review to include transfer agents, custodians, fund accountants, price evaluators, and all other mutual fund service providers. For questions about specific provider types, please contact NQR.

Why are audit reports considered the foundation of vendor oversight?

Unlike questionnaires and self-certifications, the independent nature of an audit report delivers a trustworthy foundation for understanding and relying on outsourced operations. This view is confirmed by the adopting release issued by the SEC when it published the Compliance Rule: “[W]e will consider a fund’s policies and procedures to have satisfied the [3rd-party oversight requirements of Rule 38a-1] if the fund uses a third-party report on the service provider’s procedures…”.

How does NQR review all audit reports through a consistent lens?

NQR maps the entirety of each document to dual control frameworks: (1) Generally Applicable control areas that are universally relevant to all services (e.g. business continuity processes) and (2) Service-Specific control areas that are unique to particular services (e.g. collateralization processes for securities lending providers). Based on client feedback and the evolution of industry services, frameworks will expand to encompass any new audit report content.

Who from NQR reviews the audit reports?

Our team averages 20+ years of industry experience in audit, operations, and compliance/legal. Over the past 7 years, the team has assessed reports from 100+ mutual fund service providers – that’s 160+ audited documents each year.

How detailed is INSIGHT reporting?

INSIGHT reports meet the spectrum of needs from day-to-day operations to Board reporting. This includes the full control analysis by vendor and service, page citations, exception details with management responses, control objectives, user entity controls (CUECS), and subservice organization controls (CSOCs). All data is exportable to Excel, PowerPoint, Word, and PDF.

Resources

Comprehensive Service Provider Oversight with NQR’s SP INSIGHT View Resource		Transform Third-Party Oversight with NQR’s Questionnaire Services View Resource
The Role of Audit Reports in Vendor Oversight View Article		Ernst & Young on How to Leverage Audit Reports View Webinar