An actively managed certificate (AMC) is a way to deliver a discretionary investment strategy to professional investors as a bankable, ISIN-bearing security. It sits between a fund and a note — a securitised wrapper that lets a manager run a strategy actively, while investors buy, hold and settle the exposure through their normal custody bank. This guide is the pillar overview: what an AMC is, how it works day to day, what can sit inside one, what it costs, where it is issued from, and how it compares with the other structures managers routinely consider. Each section links to a deeper dedicated article where relevant.
What an AMC is
An AMC is a debt security issued by a bankruptcy-remote special purpose vehicle (SPV), whose value tracks a reference portfolio the issuer's appointed manager runs on a discretionary basis. It has an ISIN, settles through Euroclear or Clearstream, and is held in custody like any other security. What makes it "actively managed" is that the manager retains discretion to trade the reference portfolio within the rules agreed at issuance, rather than tracking a fixed basket or a published index.
For a fuller primer, see What is an Actively Managed Certificate (AMC)?.
How an AMC works: NAV, fees, and lifecycle
The mechanics of an AMC are what make it feel like a fund from the investor's perspective, even though its legal form is a note.
Net asset value (NAV) per certificate is computed on a defined cycle — usually daily for liquid strategies — by marking the reference portfolio to market, adding cash, and subtracting accrued fees. That NAV is the price at which subscriptions and redemptions are struck and the number reported to investors and auditors.
Fees accrue into the NAV rather than being billed. Management and administration fees typically accrue daily on an ACT/360 or ACT/365 basis so they spread smoothly across the year. A performance fee, where present, is calculated above a high-water mark, so investors do not pay twice for recovering ground already covered.
The lifecycle runs from issuance — subscription window, close, first NAV — through active management, subscriptions and redemptions along the way, corporate actions, and eventually redemption or termination. A well-run platform handles valuation, fee accrual, order processing and reporting through a single set of controls.
For the full mechanics, see How an Actively Managed Certificate Works: NAV, Fees and Lifecycle, and for how Noray runs this day to day, Beyond Issuance: managing an AMC's lifecycle.
What can go inside an AMC
AMCs are wrapper-neutral: the same legal shell can hold a wide range of underlyings, provided the reference portfolio can be valued and, where applicable, custodied. Listed equities and funds are the simplest case. Fixed income, ETFs and derivatives are routine. Crypto and digital assets are eligible where the manager appoints a qualified custodian and prices are drawn from acceptable sources. Private assets — private equity stakes, private credit, real estate exposure — can also be securitised, with valuation cycles that match the underlying rather than a daily NAV.
See What can go in an AMC for the full eligibility view, and dedicated notes on crypto and digital assets and private assets.
Who uses AMCs
AMCs are used by firms whose value is in an investment strategy rather than an issuance platform. Discretionary asset managers wrap flagship strategies to distribute them through private banks. Hedge fund-style managers use them to run long/short, leveraged or derivative strategies in a securitised form. Family offices consolidate multi-asset or private-market holdings into a single branded certificate their bank can custody. Wealth managers and financial intermediaries offer clients a bankable version of an in-house strategy without launching a fund. Emerging managers use an AMC to build an audited track record at a fraction of the cost and time of a fund launch.
See how each cohort uses AMCs — hedge fund strategies, emerging managers — and Noray's dedicated pages for financial intermediaries, family offices, wealth managers and private banks.
How AMCs compare to other structures
The clearest way to place an AMC is by comparing it to the alternatives an investor or manager typically considers.
Against a fund, an AMC is faster and cheaper to launch, uses a securitisation vehicle instead of a regulated fund vehicle, and reaches professional investors through custody banks rather than fund distribution channels. Against an ETF, an AMC allows genuine active discretion and does not require the retail-distribution machinery of a listed fund. Against a separately managed account (SMA), an AMC scales one strategy across many investors in a single security, whereas an SMA runs one account per client. Against a credit-linked note (CLN), an AMC is a strategy wrapper, while a CLN is a credit and financing instrument tied to a specific reference obligation. Against a tracker certificate, an AMC is discretionary; a tracker mirrors a defined index or basket. Against the broader ETP category, an AMC describes how the underlying is managed, while ETP describes how the product is listed and traded — the two labels often overlap.
Dedicated comparisons: AMC vs Fund, AMC vs ETF, AMC vs SMA, AMC vs CLN, Tracker Certificate vs AMC, ETP vs AMC and ETN vs ETP vs ETF.
Cost
AMC economics are transparent and roughly one order of magnitude below a comparable fund launch. Setup costs cover the compartment in a securitisation vehicle, the paying agent onboarding, custody set-up and the ISIN. Ongoing costs cover administration, valuation, the paying agent, custody and audit. Total cost of ownership depends on the jurisdiction, the complexity of the underlying and the frequency of NAV — a daily-priced liquid strategy costs less to run than a private-asset compartment with a quarterly valuation.
For the numbers, see AMC Issuance Cost Breakdown.
Where AMCs are issued from
An AMC is only as good as the securitisation vehicle it is issued from. Luxembourg, Guernsey, Cayman and Switzerland are the four jurisdictions that dominate professional-market issuance, each with a different balance of regulation, cost, speed and distribution reach. Luxembourg is the EU standard; Guernsey's protected cell company suits multi-manager platforms; Cayman is tax-neutral and widely accepted; Switzerland offers a Swiss ISIN and short time-to-market for issuers already close to Swiss private banking.
For the full comparison, see our jurisdictions overview and Securitisation Vehicles by Jurisdiction; for a specific market, How to Issue an AMC in Switzerland.
How Noray helps
Noray Capital is a Swiss-based structuring coordinator that issues actively managed certificates, ETPs, CLNs and Tracker Certificates across Luxembourg, Guernsey, Cayman and Switzerland. We set up the compartment, coordinate the paying agent, custody and valuation, obtain the ISIN, and run the certificate day to day through our own platform — so managers can focus on the strategy and the client relationship rather than the plumbing.
This article is for informational purposes only and is intended for professional investors. It does not constitute legal, tax, financial or investment advice, nor an offer of any security.