PE Tech Report

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Sportstech specialist Sportside has secured backing to the value of GBP15million from impact investor Fortunis Capital Group.The ‘connect and play’ social app, scheduled to be launched in autumn, is a one-stop platform that lets people find their perfect sporting match, by age, ability or geography – and gives clubs and coaches the resource to manage their business and attract new clients. Driven by free sign-ups, Sportside aims to build an engaged community of millions of players, coaches and clubs which, in turn, will open up commercial opportunities for advertisers, partners and sponsors.   Bob Frost, Director of London-based Fortunis, confirmed
The increasing need for transparency and efficiency across the private equity industry has led to higher investments into modern IT platforms on a large scale within manager firms. This development will help GPs reach their goals of generating better quality data, responding to investor requests and keeping up to date with regulatory norms.
Jill Calton, UMB Fund Services
Private equity managers are being driven along the curve of technology adoption by greater institutional investor interest in the asset class. Managers are having to re-fashion their approach to data to ensure they can meet their clients’ demands with ease and simplicity in a scalable manner.
As terrible as the Covid-19 crisis has been, it has forced private equity players to accelerate their adoption of technology to replace previous practices. This will likely be the impetus needed for full implementation across the industry. “As an example, in June 2020, the US Department of Labor issued guidance effectively opening the door for plan sponsors to add private equity funds to their 401(k) funds. While there are many viewpoints on the risks and rewards, the democratisation of private equity to the ‘Main Street’ investor will force industry participants to leverage digital platforms to accelerate data access and investment
Roger Woolman, SS&C Advent
Providing investors with a compelling digital experience is becoming a key component to the service private equity managers offer their clients. When looking to implement such service, managers need to be aware of specific dimensions which can help support their efforts to deploy this successfully for their benefit and that of their investors. PE has moved at a different pace to the rest of the asset management world when it comes to adopting technology solutions in the client-facing part of its business. As it requires more of a white-glove approach, it has not been as easily transferable to a digital
George Ralph, RFA
As private equity managers become more comfortable adopting technology, a measure of which has been accelerated by the Covid-19 crisis, their needs are also developing further. The increased adoption of public cloud services is leading to more data-warehousing which in turn results in more in-depth analysis of that data. However, as these firms progress along the technology adoption timeline, they must ensure their cybersecurity is air-tight. George Ralph, Managing Director at RFA discusses the changing needs and demands of PE firms: “There is going to be a huge ramp up in the use of public cloud solutions within private equity.
Julien Gervaz, Palico
The secondary market is on an upward trajectory. More institutional investors are looking to streamline their holdings and take an active approach to portfolio management. This, in conjunction with travel restrictions resulting from the Coronavirus pandemic, has led to investors becoming more comfortable with the concept of trusting an online platform.  Julien Gervaz is the CEO at Palico, an online platform that facilitates secondary transactions. He gives more detail on the outlook for growth in this market: “Everybody knows that the current hot spot in PE is in the secondaries market. LPs are getting more familiar with it and last
Katy Bogue, eVestment
Simply put, portfolio performance data is a GP’s most valuable asset. It is their record of achievement, their recipe for future success, and their best fundraising tool, all in one. That is why it is unfathomable that most GPs are still relying solely on spreadsheets, 30+ year-old software, as their primary tool for collecting, managing, and analysing their performance data.  Historically, spreadsheet-based performance data management and analytics meant that any “analysis” was limited by the cumbersome nature of the tool, and so output was centred on high-level performance figures. Fundraising conversations, as a result, only focused on these numbers too. 
Barnaby Piggott, Holland Mountain
When it comes to technology solutions, five to 10 years ago, private capital firms used to try to select a single software vendor to deliver all functional requirements across the front, middle and back office. This approach had limited success. Most vendors had strengths in certain areas but key weaknesses in others. None could deliver all functionality well. 
“What is now proved was once only imagined” – William Blake, Auguries of Innocence, 1803 The private equity industry remains a staunchly conservative, relationship-driven industry, fuelled by the operational and financial expertise of deal teams to identify the right companies to invest with and transform.

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