TopQ Software, a technology company founded by former private equity investors, has launched on topquartile.com.
TopQ is a tool for the secure exchange and analysis of track record data between private equity fund managers and institutional investors.
TopQ allows private equity fund managers to upload their fund performance data securely and quickly, and share their data with invited institutional investors. Using TopQ, investors can then analyse the data with accuracy and speed.
TopQ contains an array of proprietary technology, including an “intelligent import” capability, which means the platform can interpret track record data from a variety of spreadsheet formats; “dynamic filtering” which allows track record data to be filtered by geography, industry, individual team member etc, at the touch of a button; and a range of customisable charts and configurable tools, designed specifically to illustrate aspects of private equity fund performance, which can be arranged within TopQ’s “widget framework”.
TopQ has locations in Edinburgh, London and Boston. The company was founded in 2013 by Graeme Faulds and Graham Paterson, both founding partners of private equity fund of funds SL Capital Partners, and Drake Paulson, a veteran of the private equity software industry.
“It was always unbelievable to us that we were working in a USD3trn industry still predominantly run on spreadsheets,” says Faulds. “This has always made track record analysis a painstaking and long-winded process for both fund managers and investors.
“The use of spreadsheets for this task is prone to user error and is open to abuse. For example, this data is confidential, but a confidential spreadsheet containing track record data can easily be passed on to a third party.”
TopQ’s sharing function means that track records are viewed only by their intended recipients and all the key data is encrypted using the latest 256bit AES technology. The system also provides an audit trail of who has worked on a track record and when.
“Experienced investors in private equity will be familiar with the conundrum that every fund manager claims to be a top quartile performer,” says Paterson. “Even the worst performers can manage to dig up one particular metric which puts their fund in the top quartile, which means as an investor you end up having to cut through a lot of layers of data before you can perform an apples-to-apples comparison. One of the driving forces behind the establishment of TopQ was the need to give investors peace of mind when conducting their due diligence.”
The product is distributed on a “freemium” model, whereby users can register to use the “TopQ Reader” for free, which allows them to view track records, which have been shared with them, and perform standard analysis. Users who subscribe to the “TopQ Analyzer” product are able to upload and share track records and take advantage of customisable analysis and flexible reporting options.
