Most managers I talk to know they want a Cayman fund. What they are less clear on is the sequence of events between deciding to launch and actually accepting capital. The process involves entity formation, CIMA registration, fund documentation, service provider appointments, AML setup, investor onboarding, and a first close — roughly six months of work when everything goes smoothly [1]. I walk managers through this at Infra One, and the single biggest factor in how fast a fund launches is how early the manager engages a fund services provider to run the operational side.
This article covers the full journey. At each step, I will note what the manager handles and what we handle.
Picking the structure
For closed-ended alternative funds — venture capital, private equity, credit — the exempted limited partnership (ELP) is the standard. The ELP is tax-transparent, governed by the Limited Partnership Law, and accepted by institutional LPs everywhere [2]. You need at least one general partner and one limited partner. The GP carries unlimited liability, which is why most managers incorporate a Cayman exempted company to serve as GP and cap their personal exposure.
We set up the GP entity and the ELP together. The whole formation takes about a week once we have the manager's details and the fund name confirmed with the Registrar of Exempted Limited Partnerships.
Appointing service providers
CIMA requires every registered fund to have a licensed administrator and auditor in place before registration [3]. You also need a registered office in the Cayman Islands and an anti-money laundering compliance officer (AMLCO). For an emerging manager, coordinating four or five separate providers is one of the most time-consuming parts of launching.
At Infra One, we serve as the fund administrator and registered office. We also handle the AMLCO function. That leaves the manager needing to appoint two parties independently: legal counsel (to draft the LPA and PPM) and an auditor. We work with a short list of Cayman counsel and audit firms and can make introductions, but the manager signs those engagements directly.
CIMA registration
Most emerging managers register as a restricted fund under the Mutual Funds Act — capped at 50 investors, all of whom must be professional or sophisticated investors [4]. The restricted pathway is faster and carries lighter ongoing reporting than a full mutual fund registration. I have covered the details of the CIMA registration and compliance process separately.
The registration package we prepare and submit includes the fund's offering documents, the LPA, administrator and auditor appointment letters, the AML policy, the valuation policy, and conflict-of-interest disclosures. CIMA reviews the package and typically comes back with one or two rounds of queries — clarifications on the investment strategy, investor suitability processes, or leverage terms. We draft the responses in coordination with the manager and legal counsel [5].
Timeline: four to six weeks for a restricted fund registration if the documentation is clean. Budget eight to ten weeks if you expect queries or are filing for the first time.
Fund documentation
Three core documents need to be in place before CIMA registration and first close:
- Limited Partnership Agreement (LPA). The governing document. Covers capital commitments, call mechanics, distribution waterfall, fees, governance, and LP protections. Legal counsel drafts it; we review the operational sections — NAV calculation, reporting obligations, capital call procedures — to make sure everything is administrable [6].
- Private Placement Memorandum (PPM). The selling document. Describes the strategy, risk factors, terms, key personnel, service providers, and tax considerations. For emerging managers, the PPM must disclose that this is a first fund and attribute any prior track record to the principals' previous roles [7].
- Subscription Agreement. The contract each investor signs. Includes the commitment amount, investor representations (accreditation, AML attestations, tax residency), and acknowledgment of risks. We provide a template that works with our onboarding system.
The documentation phase runs in parallel with CIMA preparation. Legal counsel typically needs four to six weeks to produce final drafts, including one or two review cycles with the manager and administrator.
AML setup and investor onboarding
Cayman AML requirements are strict. The fund must have a written AML policy, a designated AMLCO, and documented KYC/CDD procedures before accepting any capital [8]. We build and maintain all of this. Our AML and beneficial ownership compliance article goes into the regulatory detail.
In practice, investor onboarding works like this: the manager introduces the LP, we send the subscription documents and KYC questionnaire, and we collect and verify everything — certified ID, proof of address, source of funds, beneficial ownership documentation for corporate investors, and sanctions screening against OFAC, EU, and UN lists [9]. For politically exposed persons or investors from higher-risk jurisdictions, we run enhanced due diligence with additional source-of-wealth verification.
KYC clearance takes five to fifteen business days per investor depending on complexity. Corporate investors with layered structures take longer. We flag issues early so the manager is not waiting on a single LP at closing.
First close mechanics
Before the first close, we confirm CIMA approval is in hand, all service providers are live, the fund bank account is open, and every subscribing investor has cleared KYC. On closing day, we receive the wire transfers, reconcile against subscription agreements, admit investors to the partnership register, and calculate the initial NAV [10].
Within five business days of close, every investor gets a capital account statement and admission confirmation. Within thirty days, we notify CIMA of the close and current investor count. The fund is now operational and the manager can begin deploying capital.
Most emerging managers target a first close of three to five investors and hold a second close three to six months later as fundraising continues. We handle subsequent closings the same way — KYC, subscription documents, capital receipt, register update.
Ongoing operations and compliance
Once the fund is running, the recurring obligations are where a fund administrator earns its fees. Here is what happens on an ongoing basis:
- NAV calculation. We calculate net asset value quarterly. The manager provides valuation inputs for illiquid holdings; we aggregate everything, deduct liabilities and accrued fees, and issue NAV statements to investors [11].
- Capital calls and distributions. The manager tells us when to call capital or distribute proceeds. We calculate per-unit amounts, send notices to investors, receive and reconcile wires, and apply the distribution waterfall from the LPA.
- Investor reporting. Quarterly reports go out within thirty to forty-five days of quarter-end. We prepare the financial sections; the manager provides the strategy and portfolio commentary.
- CIMA annual filings. Audited financial statements must be filed within four months of year-end. We coordinate the audit, prepare the financial data, and handle the CIMA submission [12].
- AML compliance. Annual KYC refresh on all investors, quarterly sanctions re-screening, and an AML compliance certificate filed with CIMA within thirty days of year-end [13].
- Beneficial ownership register. We maintain the register, update it when investors change, and produce it for CIMA inspection on request [14].
Costs
For an emerging manager launching a first Cayman fund, pre-launch costs typically land between USD 70,000 and 90,000 — covering legal fees, CIMA registration, administrator setup, auditor engagement, AML setup, and registered office [15]. Annual operating costs for a fund in the USD 50–250 million range run USD 200,000 to 270,000, including administration, audit, legal, compliance, and CIMA renewal fees. Bundling services with a single provider like Infra One reduces the total and removes the coordination overhead of managing five separate vendor relationships.
What we handle at Infra One
We run the operational side of the fund from formation to wind-down. That means entity setup, CIMA registration and renewal, fund administration, NAV calculations, capital call and distribution processing, investor onboarding with full KYC/AML, beneficial ownership register maintenance, quarterly reporting, audit coordination, and all ongoing CIMA filings. The manager focuses on investing and LP relationships. We handle everything else.
If you are planning a Cayman fund launch and want to understand what the timeline and process look like for your situation, you can explore our fund platform or get in touch directly.
DISCLOSURE: This communication is on behalf of Infra One GmbH ("Infra One"). This communication is for informational purposes only, and contains general information only. Infra One is not, by means of this communication, rendering accounting, business, financial, investment, legal, tax, or other professional advice or services. This publication is not a substitute for such professional advice or services nor should it be used as a basis for any decision or action that may affect your business or interests. Before making any decision or taking any action that may affect your business or interests, you should consult a qualified professional advisor. This communication is not intended as a recommendation, offer or solicitation for the purchase or sale of any security. Infra One does not assume any liability for reliance on the information provided herein. © 2026 Infra One GmbH All rights reserved. Reproduction prohibited.