How our history has shaped us and our brand’s evolution.
We’ve recently embarked on an update of our brand image to coincide with today’s launch of our new website. We’re excited to add this milestone to Phoenix American’s 48 years in operation. As we look to the future, we’re also taking this opportunity to look at our surprising history and how it has shaped the company we are today.
The value we bring as a consultative partner.
From real estate and debt funds to commodity pools and asset-backed securities, we’ve served every kind of alternative investment fund and developed innovative solutions as new structures and strategies emerge. Our clients rely on us not only as a service provider, but also as a trusted partner for operational strategy and best practices. Our ability to play this role stems from two essential elements: our expert leadership team, many of them veterans of leading investment sponsors and from having been a fund sponsor ourselves.
Founded in 1972 by Gus Constantin, Phoenix Leasing was the sponsor of a successful series of publicly registered non-traded equipment leasing funds, sold by broker-dealers to investors nationwide for more than two decades. Phoenix Leasing produced strong returns to investors, supplied essential equipment leasing options to businesses, and built up the administrative, accounting, and reporting capabilities that now distinguish the company as a third-party fund administrator for alternative funds.
Expertise as a service provider and technology company.
In the early 1980s, Phoenix American Financial Services was established to leverage the back-office administrative capabilities of Phoenix Leasing as a full-service administrator for fellow sponsors in the alternative investment industry. STAR-XMS, an advanced proprietary shareholder recordkeeping and transfer agent system that maximizes back-office efficiency, was developed based on the experience of Phoenix Leasing. STAR-XMS is now at the heart of our services as a third-party administrator and is also licensed to self-administered investment firms to streamline their back-office processes. In 1992, Phoenix American became an SEC-registered transfer agent and is annually audited for SOC 1—Type II compliance.
Similarly, Phoenix American SalesFocus Solutions was founded to leverage the marketing automation and sales reporting capacity of the Phoenix Leasing sales department. The MARS system, SalesFocus’ CRM sales reporting and compliance application transforms sales and asset data into actionable business intelligence and integrates with all the most widely employed data sources and software providers. Today, SalesFocus Solutions supports the sales teams of some of the biggest names in the asset management industry.
Drawing on knowledge and contacts from the equipment leasing business, Phoenix Cable was founded in 1990 to acquire, develop, and manage cable television systems for subscribers nationwide as well as for agencies of the United States government. Although the principal assets and operations of Phoenix Cable were sold in the early 2000s, the company continues to provide cable television services to the men and women of America’s armed forces at the United States Naval Station at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
In the early 1990s, Phoenix FiberLink was founded to construct and manage fiber-optic networks, connecting businesses as the nation and the world embraced the Internet as essential infrastructure for economic activity. During the explosive growth of Internet startups that followed, Resource Phoenix was launched as an outsourced accounting provider to online companies looking to grow their businesses without the burden of in-house accounting teams, while Phoenix Venture Lease provided capital and equipment financing to clients such as Yahoo! and Netscape.
Phoenix American Financial Services began providing services for the aviation leasing industry in 1993. With the growth of asset-backed securitizations in the aviation industry, a dedicated division of the company was established in 1998 to serve this business sector. Today, Phoenix American, including its wholly owned subsidiary PAFS Ireland, Ltd., is the leading provider of managing agent services to asset-backed securitizations in the commercial aviation and aircraft engine leasing industry.
Phoenix American’s diverse history and culture of entrepreneurship have always been focused on one core mission: serving the needs and exceeding the expectations of our customers. Our fund administration clients depend on us as an expert back-office partner so they can focus on their core mission: acquiring premium assets and earning the highest returns for the greatest possible number of investors.
Why update the brand and website now?
For 48 years, Phoenix American has led the way in administrative support for alternatives. With our deep experience, we combine the role of complete operational partner with specialized technology, a full range of services, and a personalized approach, allowing fund management to focus on assets and sales.
Ours is a role integral to our clients’ business that helps to enhance their brand and drive success. With that in mind, we have enhanced our own brand with a new look that reflects our values in a changing and competitive investment world.
Looking to the future of delivering value in the new era of alternative funds.
Fund sponsors are turning to new structures, new distribution channels, new asset classes, and new technologies with a spirit of innovation and entrepreneurial success. We work actively with industry partners, regulators, and new technologies to scrutinize changing client needs and develop new back-office efficiencies.
As fee compression continues and as demands on sponsors intensify, our clients are looking to Phoenix American for more support than ever: customized programming, sales reporting, bundled services including fund accounting, accounts payable, tax documents, and printing. As your operational partner, we customize, anticipate, and adapt according to your needs and contribute to the efficiency of the industry as a whole.
With an updated online presence that expresses these highest of standards, Phoenix American looks to the future, delivering a new level of value to our clients. If you’re interested in learning more, please contact us.
