Michael J. Atwater
President and Principal, Director of Fund Accounting Operations
Michael is the President of the firm and is primarily responsible for its day-to-day operations and business development. He is a licensed CPA and has over 20 years’ experience in public accounting and has specialized exclusively in the securities/futures industry since 1992. An integral member of the firm, Michael focuses on the financial reporting and fund administration of hedge funds including new client setup of complex hedge fund structures including master/feeder, fund of fund, commodity, fixed income and private equity funds. In addition, he has been involved in the preparation of certified audits for those structures as well as for futures commission merchants, non-guaranteed introducing brokers and broker dealers and is currently the Partner-in-Charge of all firm certified audits. Michael’s experience also includes the preparation of federal and state tax returns.
Donald A. Pizziferro
Principal, Director of Investor Services
Don brings over 25 years of experience in the futures/securities industry and focuses on the area of fund accounting and client services. Don oversees the Investor Services Group and serves as a liaison between the fund accounting function of the firm and that of Investor Services. Don also has significant involvement in complex financial audit and tax support issues for various types of managed funds including but not limited to direct-trading funds, commodity pools and fund-of-funds. Prior to joining the firm, Don served as a Supervisor for Commodity Compliance Services, Inc. where he prepared and supervised the accounting, tax and performance reporting for wide variety of hedge funds, commodity pools, CTAs and investment advisors.
Vishal N. Shah
Principal
Vishal is a Principal with the firm. He has over 17 years’ experience in the alternative investment industry and is a licensed CPA in the state of Illinois. He received his Master’s in Business Administration in Finance and Accounting from Loyola University in Chicago in 2005, and 2001, he earned his Bachelor of Commerce degree in Advanced Accounting and Auditing from University of Mumbai, India.
During his tenure at Liccar Fund Services, Vishal has proved himself as an integral part of the accounting department. He has worked on numerous complex hedge funds including master-feeder, private equity funds and commodity pools. He has supervised and trained other staff members and senior accountants on the daily and monthly workflows, NAV calculations, and reconciliation procedures for domestic and offshore hedge funds. He assisted the company in vendor selection and negotiation process and spearheaded various system transitions including general ledger system, portfolio management software and data analytics software. In addition, he has helped in preparation of year-end federal and state tax returns for various partnerships.