Alternative fund administrators have reported an increase in assets under administration (AUA) to USD7.64 trillion, up 14.15 per cent from the prior year, according to eVestment’s 2017 Alternative Fund Administration survey.
Highlighting the continued growth in third party administration of private equity funds, survey respondents, who cover hedge funds, private equity, real assets, funds of funds, and liquid alternatives, see private equity as the strongest area of anticipated business growth, as they did in last year’s survey.
Hedge funds came in second for anticipated growth and real assets came in third.
The survey represents the current state of the global alternative investment fund administration industry and includes information from firms across the spectrum of size and services offered. This is the 17th edition of the survey eVestment has published. The 2017 survey is based on responses collected at the end of 2016.
According to the survey, nearly 48 per cent of respondents expect net firm exits from the fund administration space as M&A activity in the space continues, while 26.3 per cent of respondents expect net entries into the business and 10.5 per cent of respondents held a neutral view of entries/exits.
M&A in the fund administration industry meanwhile, was robust in the past year and is expected to continue. The need for broader geographic footprints and for expanding product expertise drove much of the activity.
North America ranked highest for anticipated business growth in the 2017 survey, as it did in the 2016 survey. Europe, Asia Pacific and Latin America held rankings similar to last year’s report, although respondents were less positive about their expectations for growth in the European fund administration space than they were in the previous report.
