PE Tech Report

NEWSLETTER

Like this article?

Sign up to our free newsletter

Private equity limited partners want more reporting, says iLevel poll

Private equity general partners are seeing an uptick in institutional investors asking for more reporting from their private equity fund managers and those fund managers are building up their back offices to meet these demands, according to a poll by iLevel Solutions. 

Supporting the results of the poll, carried out at last week’s Duff & Phelps 6th Annual Alternative Investment Conference, private equity leaders shared anecdotes from recent fundraising efforts where potential investors requested reporting and transparency similar to what they receive for other investments such as public equities.

Audience polling, gathered during the iLevel and Hamilton Lane joint session on portfolio reporting and transparency, indicates that nearly half of the general partners in attendance feel they fall short in their limited partner reporting or struggle to understand the reporting demands of their LPs.

"Many large pension fund CIOs today cannot track earnings or debt levels across their private equity portfolio. It’s unreasonable to expect the asset class will grow if the CIO can’t get answers to those types of questions," says Erik Hirsch, chief investment officer of Hamilton Lane. "We see technology as a key enabler of increased transparency and Hamilton Lane has partnered with iLevel to design a new version of their portfolio management platform that will be available to our clients and other LPs in 2013. This new version will offer the kind of standard and customizable reporting that private equity investors want."

Discussing recent fundraising efforts, several fund managers relayed that investors are choosing one fund manager over another based more on reporting capabilities than ever before.

"We are absolutely seeing capital commitment decisions being made based on the fund manager’s ability to offer transparency and better reporting to their limited partners," said Laurence Tosi, chief financial officer of Blackstone Group, during his keynote address. "Blackstone uses the iLevel platform as a critical part of our private equity portfolio management platform."

iLevel polling also shows 50 per cent of GPs in attendance plan to increase their back-office headcount over the next 18 months, largely due to the need to satisfy an increase in LP reporting demands.

"One GP at the conference told me they have seen requests from LPs increase 400 per cent in the last year alone," says Rick Kushel, chief executive of iLevel Solutions. "Poll results also clearly indicate that GPs are investing in resources to meet this increasing demand from their investors. We continue to see GP firms add headcount and implement portfolio monitoring and reporting software to deliver complete, accurate and timely reporting to their investors."

Like this article? Sign up to our free newsletter

MOST POPULAR

FURTHER READING

Featured