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Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Policies)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2015

The preparation of the consolidated financial statements in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Estimates are used for, but not limited to, collectability of accounts receivable, costs to complete certain contracts, valuation of acquired assets and liabilities, valuation of stock options, income tax accruals and the value of deferred tax assets. Estimates are also used to determine the remaining economic lives and carrying value of fixed assets, goodwill and intangible assets. Actual results could differ from those estimates.

Principles of Consolidation

The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the Company and its subsidiaries. All significant accounts, transactions and profits between the consolidated companies have been eliminated in consolidation. Unconsolidated investments in entities over which the Company does not have control but has the ability to exercise influence over operating and financial policies, if any, are accounted for under the equity method of accounting. Earnings and losses from such investments are recorded on a pre-tax basis, if any.

Reclassifications

In connection with the acquisition of Advent and the related increase in term license revenues, the Company condensed its presentation of revenues on its Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income to illustrate its two types of revenue streams: recurring revenues and non-recurring revenues. Recurring revenues consist of software-enabled services and maintenance and term licenses. Non-recurring revenues consist of professional services and perpetual licenses.

The Company’s prior presentation required that revenues from term license agreements be allocated between license revenue and maintenance revenue, with the license portion being reported together with revenue from perpetual license agreements as “Software licenses”, and the maintenance portion being reported together with maintenance revenue related to perpetual licenses as “Maintenance”. The Company reclassified $10.0 million and $9.5 million from “Software licenses” to “Maintenance and term licenses” for the years ended December 31, 2014 and 2013, respectively. In connection with the reclassification of revenues, the Company reclassified the related costs of revenues, which were immaterial. The revised presentation better illustrates the nature of the Company’s revenues and costs of revenues by indicating the recurring nature of the license portion of revenue from maintenance and term license agreements. The Company has not changed its accounting methods for revenue recognition.

Revenue Recognition

The Company’s payment terms for software licenses typically require that the total fee be paid upon signing of the contract. Maintenance services are typically due in full at the beginning of the maintenance period. Professional services and software-enabled services are typically due and payable monthly in arrears. Normally, the Company’s arrangements do not provide for any refund rights, and payments are not contingent on specific milestones or customer acceptance conditions. For arrangements that do contain such provisions, the Company defers revenue until the rights or conditions have expired or have been met.

Unbilled accounts receivable primarily relates to professional services and software-enabled services revenue that has been earned as of month end but is not invoiced until the subsequent month, and to software license revenue that has been earned and is realizable but not invoiced to clients until future dates specified in the client contract.

Deferred revenue consists of payments received related to product delivery, maintenance and other services, which have been paid by customers prior to the recognition of revenue. Deferred revenue relates primarily to cash received for maintenance contracts in advance of services being performed over the contractual term.

Software-enabled Services Revenue

The Company primarily offers software-enabled outsourcing services in which the Company utilizes its own software to offer comprehensive fund administration services for alternative investment managers, including fund manager services, transfer agency services, funds-of-funds services, tax processing and accounting. The Company also offers subscription-based on-demand software applications that are managed and hosted at our facilities. The software-enabled services arrangements provide an alternative for clients who do not wish to install, run and maintain complicated financial software. Under these arrangements, the client does not have the right to take possession of the software, rather, the Company agrees to provide access to its applications, remote use of its equipment to process transactions, access to client’s data stored on its equipment, and connectivity between its environment and the client’s computing systems.

Software-enabled services are generally provided under non-cancelable contracts with initial terms of one to five years that require monthly or quarterly payments, and are subject to automatic annual renewal at the end of the initial term unless terminated by either party.

The Company recognizes software-enabled services revenues on a monthly basis as the software-enabled services are provided and when pervasive evidence of an arrangement exists, the price is fixed or determinable and collectability is reasonably assured. The Company does not recognize any revenue before services are performed. Certain contracts contain additional fees for increases in market value, pricing and trading activity. Revenues related to these additional fees are recognized in the month in which the activity occurs based upon the Company’s summarization of account information and trading volume.

Perpetual Licenses Revenue

Maintenance and Term Licenses Revenue Agreements

Maintenance agreements generally require the Company to provide technical support and software updates (on a when-and-if-available basis) to its clients. Such services are generally provided under one-year renewable contracts. Maintenance revenues are recognized ratably over the term of the maintenance agreement.

The Company also sells term licenses ranging from one to seven years, many of which include bundled maintenance services. For those arrangements with bundled maintenance services, VSOE does not exist for the maintenance element and therefore the total fee is recognized ratably over the contractual term of the arrangement.

Perpetual Licenses Revenue

The Company follows the principles of accounting standards relating to software revenue recognition, which provide guidance on applying GAAP in recognizing revenue on software transactions. Accounting standards require that revenue recognized from software transactions be allocated to each element of the transaction based on the relative fair values of the elements, such as software products, specified upgrades, enhancements, post-contract client support, installation or training. The determination of fair value is based upon vendor-specific objective evidence (“VSOE”). The Company recognizes perpetual licenses revenues allocated to software products and enhancements generally upon delivery of each of the related products or enhancements, assuming all other revenue recognition criteria are met. In the rare occasion that a perpetual license agreement includes the right to a specified upgrade or product, the Company defers all revenues under the arrangement until the specified upgrade or product is delivered, since typically VSOE does not exist to support the fair value of the specified upgrade or product.

The Company generally recognizes revenue from sales of software or products including proprietary software upon product shipment and receipt of a signed contract, provided that collection is probable and all other revenue recognition criteria are met. The Company sells perpetual software licenses in conjunction with professional services for installation and maintenance. For these arrangements, the total contract value is attributed first to the maintenance arrangement based on its fair value, which is derived from stated renewal rates. The contract value is then attributed to professional services based on estimated fair value, which is derived from the rates charged for similar services provided on a stand-alone basis. The Company’s software license agreements generally do not require significant modification or customization of the underlying software, and, accordingly, implementation services provided by the Company are not considered essential to the functionality of the software. The remainder of the total contract value is then attributed to the software license based on the residual method.

The Company occasionally enters into license agreements requiring significant customization of the Company’s software. The Company accounts for the license fees under these agreements on the percentage-of-completion basis. This method requires estimates to be made for costs to complete the agreement utilizing an estimate of development man-hours remaining. Revenue is recognized each period based on the hours incurred to date compared to the total hours expected to complete the project. Due to uncertainties inherent in the estimation process, it is at least reasonably possible that completion costs may be revised. Such revisions are recognized in the period in which the revisions are determined. Provisions for estimated losses on uncompleted contracts are determined on a contract-by-contract basis, and are made in the period in which such losses are first estimated or determined.

Maintenance and Term Licenses Revenue Agreements

Professional Services Revenue

The Company provides consulting and training services to its clients. Revenues for such services are generally recognized over the period during which the services are performed. The Company typically charges for professional services on a time-and-materials basis. However, some contracts are for a fixed fee. For the fixed-fee arrangements, an estimate is made of the total hours expected to be incurred to complete the project. Due to uncertainties inherent in the estimation process, it is at least reasonably possible that completion costs may be revised. Such revisions are recognized in the period in which the revisions are determined. Revenues are recognized each period based on the hours incurred to date compared to the total hours expected to complete the project.

Research and Development

Research and development costs associated with computer software are charged to expense as incurred. Capitalization of internally developed computer software costs begins upon the establishment of technological feasibility based on a working model. Net capitalized software costs of $4.7 million and $4.2 million are included in the December 31, 2015 and 2014 balance sheets, respectively, under “Intangible and other assets”.

The Company’s policy is to amortize these costs upon a product’s general release to the client. Amortization of capitalized software costs is calculated by the greater of (a) the ratio that current gross revenues for a product bear to the total of current and anticipated future gross revenues for that product or (b) the straight-line method over the remaining estimated economic life of the product, including the period being reported on, typically two to five years. It is reasonably possible that those estimates of anticipated future gross revenues, the remaining estimated economic life of the product, or both could be reduced significantly due to competitive pressures. Amortization expense related to capitalized software development costs was $2.4 million, $1.8 million, and $1.0 million for each of the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014, and 2013, respectively.

Stock-based Compensation

Using the fair value recognition provisions of relevant accounting literature, stock-based compensation cost is measured at the grant date based on the estimated fair value of the award and is recognized as expense over the appropriate service period. Determining the fair value of stock-based awards requires considerable judgment, including estimating the expected term of stock options, expected volatility of the Company’s stock price, and the number of awards expected to be forfeited. Differences between actual results and these estimates could have a material effect on the Company’s financial results. A deferred income tax asset is recorded over the vesting period as stock compensation expense is recorded for non-qualified option awards. The realizability of the deferred tax asset is ultimately based on the actual value of the stock-based award upon exercise. If the actual value is lower than the fair value determined on the date of grant, then there could be an income tax expense for the portion of the deferred tax asset that is not realizable.

Other Income , Net

Other Income, Net

Other income, net for 2015 consists primarily of foreign currency transaction gains of $3.4 million and the liquidation of an investment. Other income, net for 2014 consists primarily of foreign currency transaction gains of $2.9 million. The gains were partially offset by an increase of $0.4 million to the contingent consideration liability for the acquisition of Prime Management Limited (“Prime”). Other income, net for 2013 consists primarily of foreign currency transaction gains of $3.4 million.

Income Taxes

The Company accounts for income taxes in accordance with the relevant accounting literature. An asset and liability approach is used to recognize deferred tax assets and liabilities for the future tax consequences of items that are recognized in the Company’s financial statements and tax returns in different years. A valuation allowance is established against net deferred tax assets if, based on the weight of available evidence, it is more likely than not that some or all of the net deferred tax assets will not be realized.

The Company accounts for uncertain tax positions using a two-step approach. The first step is to evaluate the tax position for recognition by determining if the weight of available evidence indicates it is more likely than not that the position will be sustained on audit, including resolution of related appeals or litigation processes, if any. The second step is to measure the tax benefit as the largest amount which is more than 50% likely of being realized upon ultimate settlement. The Company considers many factors when evaluating and estimating its tax positions and tax benefits, which may require periodic adjustments and which may not accurately forecast actual outcomes.

Cash and Cash Equivalents

The Company considers all highly liquid marketable securities with original maturities of three months or less at the date of acquisition to be cash equivalents. The Company held $303.1 million in cash equivalents at December 31, 2015 and did not hold any cash equivalents at December 31, 2014.

Restricted Cash

Restricted cash includes monies held by a bank as security for letters of credit issued due to lease requirements for office space. The letters of credit are expected to be renewed within the next twelve months, and as such, the restricted cash is classified as a current asset on the Consolidated Balance Sheet. Additionally, movements of restricted cash are included in other investing activities on the Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows.

Property, Plant and Equipment

Property, plant and equipment are stated at cost. Depreciation of property, plant and equipment is calculated using a combination of straight-line and accelerated methods over the estimated useful lives of the assets as follows:

Description		Useful Life
Land		—
Buildings and improvements		40 years
Equipment and software		3-5 years
Furniture and fixtures		7-10 years
Leasehold improvements		Shorter of lease term or estimated useful life

Depreciation expense for the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014 and 2013 was $18.9 million, $14.3 million and $14.7 million, respectively.

Maintenance and repairs are expensed as incurred. The costs of sold or retired assets are removed from the related asset and accumulated depreciation accounts and any gain or loss is included in other income (expense), net.

Goodwill and Intangible Assets

The Company tests goodwill annually for impairment as of December 31st (and in interim periods if certain events occur or circumstances change that would more likely than not reduce the fair value of a reporting unit below its carrying amount). The Company has completed the required impairment tests for goodwill and has determined that no impairment existed as of December 31, 2015 or 2014. The first step of the impairment analysis, which is based on our reporting unit structure, indicated that the fair value significantly exceeded the carrying value at December 31, 2015. There were no other indefinite-lived intangible assets as of December 31, 2015 or 2014.

The following table summarizes changes in goodwill (in thousands):

Balance at December 31, 2013	$	1,541,386
2014 acquisition		66,511
Effect of foreign currency translation		(34,670	)
Balance at December 31, 2014		1,573,227
2015 acquisitions		2,031,451
Adjustments to prior acquisitions		(67	)
Effect of foreign currency translation		(55,399	)
Balance at December 31, 2015	$	3,549,212

Customer relationships, completed technology and other identifiable intangible assets are amortized over lives ranging from three to 17 years based on the ratio that current cash flows for the intangible asset bear to the total of current and expected future cash flows for the intangible asset. Amortization expense associated with customer relationships, completed technology and other amortizable intangible assets was $129.5 million, $83.7 million and $84.1 million for the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014 and 2013, respectively.

A summary of the components of intangible assets is as follows (in thousands):

	December 31,
	2015			2014
Customer relationships	$	1,459,550		$	604,638
Completed technology		497,030			154,043
Trade names		61,573			39,876
Other		2,680			2,774
		2,020,833			801,331
Less: accumulated amortization		(530,792	)		(412,897	)
	$	1,490,041		$	388,434

Total estimated amortization expense, related to intangible assets, for each of the next five years, as of December 31, 2015, is expected to approximate (in thousands):

Year Ending December 31,
2016	$	192,618
2017		185,093
2018		180,220
2019		164,541
2020		154,122
	$	876,594

Impairment of Long-Lived Assets

The Company evaluates the recoverability of its long-lived assets when there is evidence that events or changes in circumstances have made recovery of the assets’ carrying value unlikely. An impairment loss would be recognized when the sum of the expected future undiscounted net cash flows is less than the carrying amount of the asset. The Company has identified no such impairment losses in the years ended December 31, 2015 and 2014.

Concentration of Credit Risk

Financial instruments, which potentially subject the Company to concentrations of credit risk, consist principally of cash, cash equivalents, marketable securities, and trade receivables. The Company has cash investment policies that limit investments to investment grade securities. Concentrations of credit risk, with respect to trade receivables, are limited due to the fact that the Company’s client base is highly diversified. As of December 31, 2015 and 2014, the Company had no significant concentrations of credit.

International Operations and Foreign Currency

The functional currency of each foreign subsidiary is generally the local currency. Accordingly, assets and liabilities of foreign subsidiaries are translated to U.S. dollars at period-end exchange rates, and capital stock accounts are translated at historical rates. Revenues and expenses are translated using the average rates during the period. The resulting translation adjustments are excluded from net earnings and accumulated as a separate component of stockholders’ equity. Foreign currency transaction gains and losses are included within other income (expense) in the results of operations in the periods in which they occur.

Comprehensive Income

Items defined as comprehensive income, such as foreign currency translation adjustments, are separately classified in the financial statements. The accumulated balance of other comprehensive income is reported separately from retained earnings and additional paid-in capital in the equity section of the Consolidated Balance Sheet. Total comprehensive income consists of net income and other accumulated comprehensive income disclosed in the equity section of the Consolidated Balance Sheet.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

In November 2015, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued Accounting Standards Update (ASU) No. 2015-17, Income Taxes: Balance Sheet Classification of Deferred Taxes. This ASU eliminates the requirement to present deferred tax assets and liabilities as current and noncurrent on the balance sheet. Instead, all deferred tax assets and liabilities are now classified as noncurrent. ASU 2015-17 is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2016 with early adoption permitted. In connection with the Company’s early adoption of this standard in the period ended December 31, 2015, the Company has classified all deferred taxes as non-current. For the period ended December 31, 2014, future income tax benefits and payables are presented as current and non-current. For both periods, future income tax benefits and payables within the same tax paying component of a particular jurisdiction are offset for presentation in the Consolidated Balance Sheet.

In September 2015, the FASB issued ASU No. 2015-16, Simplifying the Accounting for Measurement-Period Adjustments. The amendments in this ASU require that an acquirer recognize adjustments to provisional amounts that are identified during the measurement period in the reporting period in which the adjustment amounts are determined. The amendments in ASU 2015-16 require that the acquirer record, in the same period’s financial statements, the effect on earnings of changes in depreciation, amortization, or other income effects, if any, as a result of the change to the provisional amounts, calculated as if the accounting had been completed at the acquisition date. For public business entities, the amendments in this ASU are effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2015, including interim periods within those fiscal years with early adoption permitted. In connection with the Company’s early adoption of this standard in the period ended December 31, 2015, the Company made certain immaterial measurement period adjustments related to acquisitions during the year ended December 31, 2015. The impact of the adoption did not have a material impact on its financial statements.

In April 2015, the FASB issued ASU No. 2015-03, Simplifying the Presentation of Debt Issuance Costs. This ASU more closely aligns the treatment of debt issuance costs with debt discounts and premiums and requires debt issuance costs be presented as a direct deduction from the carrying amount of the related debt. The amendments in this ASU are effective for financial statements issued for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2015 and interim periods within those fiscal years with early adoption permitted. Retrospective application is required once adopted. In connection with the Company’s early adoption of this standard in the third quarter of 2015, the Company reclassified $19.2 million of deferred financing fees from intangible and other assets to a reduction in long-term debt, net of current portion in its Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet as of December 31, 2014. In addition, the Company recorded deferred financing fees of $55.8 million as a reduction in long-term debt, net of current portion, in its Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet as of September 30, 2015. The change did not impact the results of operations or cash flows.

In August 2014, the FASB issued ASU No. 2014-15, Disclosure of Uncertainties about an Entity’s Ability to Continue as a Going Concern. This ASU establishes specific guidance to an organization’s management on their responsibility to evaluate whether there is substantial doubt about the organization’s ability to continue as a going concern. The provisions of ASU 2014-15 are effective for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2016. This ASU is not expected to have an impact on the Company’s financial position, results of operations or cash flows.

In May 2014, the FASB issued ASU No. 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606). The objective of ASU 2014-09 is to clarify the principles for recognizing revenue by removing inconsistencies and weaknesses in revenue requirements; providing a more robust framework for addressing revenue issues; improving comparability of revenue recognition practices across entities, industries, jurisdictions and capital markets; and providing more useful information to users of financial statements through improved revenue disclosure requirements. The guidance was initially effective January 1, 2017 and early adoption was not permitted. In July 2015, the FASB approved a one-year deferral of the effective date to January 1, 2018, with an option of applying the standard on the original effective date. As a result, the provisions of this ASU are now effective for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2017. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of this standard on its financial position, results of operations and cash flows.

Basic and Diluted Earnings per Share

Earnings per share (“EPS”) is calculated in accordance with the relevant standards. Basic EPS includes no dilution and is computed by dividing income available to the Company’s common stockholders by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding during the period. Diluted EPS is computed by dividing net income by the weighted average number of common and common equivalent shares outstanding during the period. Common equivalent shares consist of stock options, stock appreciation rights (“SARs”) and restricted stock units (“RSUs”) and restricted stock awards (“RSAs”) using the treasury stock method. Common equivalent shares are excluded from the computation of diluted earnings per share if the effect of including such common equivalent shares is anti-dilutive because their total assumed proceeds exceed the average fair value of common stock for the period. The Company has two classes of common stock, each with identical participation rights to earnings and liquidation preferences, and therefore the calculation of EPS as described above is identical to the calculation under the two-class method.

The following table sets forth the weighted average common shares used in the computation of basic and diluted EPS (in thousands):

	Year Ended December 31,
	2015		2014		2013
Weighted average common shares outstanding — used in calculation of basic EPS		91,098		83,314		81,195
Weighted average common stock equivalents		4,350		4,017		4,421
Weighted average common and common equivalent shares outstanding — used in calculation of diluted EPS		95,448		87,331		85,616

Weighted average stock options, SARs, RSUs and RSAs representing 3,500,828, 1,841,840 and 133,598 shares were outstanding for the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014 and 2013, respectively, but were not included in the computation of diluted EPS because the effect of including them would be anti-dilutive.