Expert Network Call Compliance: Fellow's Configuration Options for Hedge Funds

Expert network calls tend to get different treatment than other meeting types at hedge funds that use them regularly. Some firms restrict recording on these calls. Some retain the call record for a shorter window than a standard diligence call. Some limit who can access the record afterward. Whatever your firm's approach is, the meeting tool you use on those calls needs to support it precisely, rather than applying the same default settings it applies to a weekly team standup.

This article isn't a guide to what your expert network compliance program should include. Your compliance and legal teams already own that. It's a description of the specific settings in Fellow that firms configure to align with whatever their existing policies already specify.

A different meeting type, a different configuration

Firms that distinguish expert network calls from other diligence or research calls generally do so because of who's on the call and what they might say. That's a judgment your compliance team makes. What Fellow can do is let that judgment get expressed as a rule: once your firm decides a category of call warrants different handling, the settings below are how that decision gets applied consistently, call after call, without relying on an individual analyst to remember to change anything in the moment.

Recording blocks, set at the workspace level

Recording behavior in Fellow can be configured at the workspace level. Rules can key off meeting title keywords, counterparty domain, attendee type (internal vs external), or attendee count, so a call matching a flagged pattern is handled consistently. A recording block prevents both the source recording and raw transcript from being captured. If a record of the call is needed, that would need to come from manual notes, AI summaries require a recording and cannot be generated when recording is blocked. Recording can also be paused or stopped mid-call. None of these are defaults.

Retention that can be tiered by content type

A data retention policy in Fellow separates the call's media from what was generated out of it. Source recordings and raw transcripts are retained on one schedule; the AI summary has its own, which can extend well beyond it.

A firm might, for example, keep a summary for a period that matches its own recordkeeping practice while deleting the source recording and raw transcript much sooner, so the underlying institutional knowledge persists without the highest-liability artifact sitting around longer than it needs to.

For calls a firm wants to treat with the shortest possible retention window, Zero-Day Retention removes the source recording and transcript from the system after processing completes, leaving only the generated summary. Retention rules are configured at the workspace level and apply consistently once set, rather than being something an individual user manages call by call.

Which schedule is right for your firm is a decision for your compliance team to make. Fellow's role is making that decision enforceable in the product once it's made.

Working with the record after the fact

Deleting a source recording doesn't mean losing access to what was useful about the call. Ask Fellow lets analysts query past call content in natural language using the retained summary, even after the source recording and transcript are gone. Follow-up action items, whether that's additional diligence work or an internal task, sync to CRM or task management tools automatically rather than needing to be copied over by hand.

Access control and a record of who saw what

Access to call records follows the permissions your firm configures. A meeting's recap is shared with the people your firm's sharing rules specify, by default the meeting's attendees, and can be narrowed to named individuals or widened to a channel. Where a recording is retained, it's visible to the same people the recap is. On recaps shared by public link, workspaces can require viewers to sign in before the recording will play, and can require a password on the link itself.

Fellow keeps an activity trail of what happened to a call record: when it was recorded, when artifacts were generated, when it was shared, redacted or deleted, and by whom. On a given recap, a firm can also see who has opened it. The Super Admin API supports pulling records programmatically, which is useful when a compliance team needs to assemble records for an internal review rather than requesting them from each analyst individually.

What this looks like in practice

An analyst at a hedge fund schedules a call with a contact sourced through an expert network. The counterparty domain matches a rule compliance set up in advance, so recording is blocked on that call before anyone joins. The analyst doesn't have to remember to turn it off. Nothing is captured, so nothing needs deleting.

On the calls a firm does record, the workspace's retention policy applies the same way every time: recording and transcript removed on the firm's schedule, summary retained on its own.

Frequently asked questions

Can recording be blocked automatically for specific counterparties or call types?

Yes. Rules can be set at the workspace level by meeting type, calendar tag, or counterparty domain, so a call matching a pattern your compliance team has flagged (an expert network provider's domain, for example) is handled under that rule automatically, without the analyst needing to configure anything at the time of the call.

Can the recording be deleted sooner than the summary?

Yes. Source recordings and raw transcripts are retained on one schedule, and the AI summary on a separate, longer one. A firm might delete the recording and transcript shortly after the call while retaining the summary for as long as its own policies require.

What does Zero-Day Retention actually remove?

Zero-Day Retention removes the source recording and transcript after AI processing completes. The generated summary is retained. It's one retention option among several, intended for call types a firm wants to handle with the shortest possible window for the highest-liability artifacts.

If a recording is deleted, can the content still be searched later?

Yes. Ask Fellow lets you query past call content in natural language using the retained summary, so the call remains searchable through its summary even after the source recording and raw transcript have been removed under a retention rule.

Can recording be blocked automatically for specific counterparties or call types?

Yes. Rules are set at the workspace level and can key off meeting title keywords, counterparty domain, whether the meeting has external attendees, and attendee count — so a call matching a pattern your compliance team has flagged, an expert network provider's domain for example, is handled under that rule automatically, without the analyst configuring anything at the time of the call.

Does using these settings mean a hedge fund's expert network calls are compliant?

No. These are product configuration options, not a compliance program. Whether a given configuration satisfies your firm's obligations is a determination for your compliance and legal teams to make, and this article isn't intended as guidance on what those obligations are.