FIS: Best Accounting & Reporting Software – Private equity firms look likely to continue operating remotely and engaging virtually with investors. And as more retail investing strategies and 401k plans in the US embrace private equity, the industry is also seeing greater demands for access to information and higher standards of reporting.
FIS: Best Accounting & Reporting Software – Private equity firms look likely to continue operating remotely and engaging virtually with investors. And as more retail investing strategies and 401k plans in the US embrace private equity, the industry is also seeing greater demands for access to information and higher standards of reporting.
Dan Kaytes (pictured), Head of Product and Delivery for Private Markets at FIS, says technology is playing a critical role: “Technology solutions are helping to service the demands of the private equity investor. Technology is also providing organisations with scale, while process automation enables team members to focus on higher value tasks and activities.”
Technology solutions have also been thrown into further focus as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. Kaytes notes: “Covid-19 is driving digital transformation across all industries. It has emphasised the need to ensure everyone can continue to deliver for the firm regardless of their work location.
“Technology is key to enabling collaboration among team members and portfolio companies. FIS are continuing to invest in delivering solutions using Cloud technologies to facilitate access to systems and data remotely and securely.”
Kaytes also identifies a growing need for access to data, which consequently drives decision making: “Highlighted by Covid-19, asset managers have refocused their strategies and what funds they’re going to be invested in. So the need to access accurate and timely information is more important than ever. Managers want technology to do the paper shuffling whilst their analysts concentrate on the real value add, which is investment decision making.”
Further, the rise in available data underscores the importance of the ability to efficiently process this information to generate meaningful insight and reporting. Kaytes outlines the FIS effort in responding to this: “FIS is taking advantage of advanced technology, such as public cloud and artificial intelligence and machine learning, to create services and solutions which can consolidate, correlate and aggregate data to increase user productivity and in turn reduce costs. FIS’ Rainmaker solution is a prime example of the value that advanced analytics can provide.”
The private equity industry is also witnessing increased investor sophistication, particularly in the retail space. This is directly related to 401k plans now having access to PE. According to Kaytes, this will likely lead to managers having more money to invest in the space but it could also pose a challenge. He comments: “As 401Ks are for retail consumers, the expectation is this going to drive the need for more standardisation and more transparency. We expect regulators to increase their level of oversight. Investran’s robust accounting engine and flexible reporting solutions enable our clients to adapt to meet any new requirements.
“There is also a growing need for information on the go. As PE becomes ‘mainstream’, investors expect transparency and detail. Players in the industry are moving to the cloud for faster and easier access. The mobile version of FIS’ Data Exchange caters for the modern-day technology user. Reporting no longer one-dimensional; Data Exchange allows investors to slice and dice with dashboards and different metrics filters.”
Dan Kaytes
Head of Product Management & Delivery, Private Equity, FIS
Dan Kaytes is head of Product Management and Delivery for the Private Equity business at FIS. In his role, Dan helps drive and deliver the vision for FIS’ Private Equity solutions. He engages with clients and the FIS team to ensure the delivery of the solutions’ product roadmaps.
