BNY Mellon will be the first global custodian to make the Burgiss Group’s new private capital benchmarking service, Private iQ, available to institutional clients.
Private iQ provides information and tools to help clients analyse the behaviour and performance of private capital markets. Subscribers will be able to benchmark private equity managers, compare asset classes, and stay informed about macro-level changes in the investment environment. BNY Mellon Asset Servicing was the only custodian to work with Burgiss during the development of Private iQ, supporting clients that wished to contribute private equity investment data to the initiative.
BNY Mellon’s plan sponsor clients will be able to access Private iQ directly from its Workbench information delivery portal, opening up a range of private equity data and analytics, including fund performance by vintage year (with returns, multiples and cash flow statistics), fund behaviour over time, concentration analysis, and fund track record comparisons against specific universes. BNY Mellon also has developed a unique standard report with key information asset owners have been seeking, such as performance across asset type and vintage year.
"Plan sponsors look to service providers for help with their most pressing challenges, including assessing performance for private equity and other illiquid assets," says John Gruber, managing director, global product strategy of BNY Mellon Asset Servicing’s Performance & Risk Analytics group. "With access to Private iQ or our new standard report, our clients will be able to address the critical need for better understanding of the private capital markets."
According to data tracked by the BNY Mellon US Master Trust Universe, for plans with more than USD1 billion in assets, 95% have an allocation to private equity (PE). The median PE allocation among all plan types was almost 10% of total assets, with foundations and endowments having the highest share at just under 30%. As of Dec. 31, 2010, the market value of PE assets in the Trust Universe was USD110 billion.
"There’s been growing demand from investors and plan sponsors for better tools and comparative data on private equity funds," says James Kocis (pictured), president of the Burgiss Group. "With Private iQ, we’re taking a significant step to address that need, and BNY Mellon’s support during the development phase was instrumental to today’s launch."
In recent years BNY Mellon has announced multiple enhancements, working with leading data and software providers to advance its Performance & Risk Analytics product offering. In March, BNY Mellon launched a new capability that allows institutional clients with a Burgiss data subscription for private equity holdings to access combined public and private investment reporting through Workbench.
"Asset owners globally are demanding holistic solutions to their risk and transparency needs. By teaming with other top financial technology firms, BNY Mellon can bring valuable new capabilities to our clients while focusing on the key elements of data integration and a superior delivery experience," said Gruber.
