Athena Wins Best Offshore Governance Firm for the Second Year

Athena International Management (“Athena”) has been named “Best Offshore Governance Firm” of the year at the 2021 HFM US Service Awards, marking the Cayman Islands boutique governance firm’s second consecutive win in this category.

The prestigious award acknowledges and celebrates service providers serving the US hedge fund industry who have demonstrated exceptional innovation in product delivery, customer service and business performance over the past 12 months.

For the second year in a row, Athena was shortlisted for its directorship services, this year alongside the Maples Group and Calderwood, and took home the award on the night. For the first time, following the virtual event marking last year’s inaugural award in this category, Founder Allison Nolan was able to collect the award in-person at a ceremony held at Guastavino’s in New York.

Commenting on the win, Nolan said, “We are very pleased to be recognised again for our commitment to providing a fresh perspective on corporate governance, delivering innovative solutions and best-in-class service to our clients. This award serves as continued validation of our relationship-driven approach and high-standards of governance that continue to set the benchmark for the alternative investment community and beyond.”

Nolan is a champion for change within the hedge funds industry, particularly around diversity and inclusion. Over the last 12 months, her firm—which also celebrated its 15-year anniversary in 2020—has seen innovations to its core service offering, including assisting fund managers with environmental, social and governance (ESG) matters and global regulatory compliance requirements, which continues to bring issues like gender diversity on the board of directors of alternative fund structures into the mainstream.

“We have seen ESG assessments and filters becoming a standard component of investor due diligence,” she explains. “More and more we see investors looking at the investment management firm themselves and, as a female founded and led governance firm, Athena can ably assist our clients in integrating global standards into their existing governance frameworks and by adding gender diversity to the fund’s board of directors or advisory committee.”