RFA: Best Cloud Services Provider – Digital transformation can create efficiencies within a business, increasing visibility of data and reducing cost. However, it is crucial that any digital transformation is approached correctly, as a poorly executed strategy can lead to significant business disruption.  “An effective digitisation process is built on an effective data strategy. An end-to-end managed data solution is usually the most effective approach for a PE firm,” explains George Ralph, Global Managing Director at RFA. “A data warehouse will separate the layers of PE managers’ data via any public cloud provider; AWS, Azure or Google Cloud. The managers are

AssetMetrix: Best ESG Solution Provider – As the need for transparency persists and private equity managers are pushed to integrate increasingly sophisticated tools into their processes, the importance of delivering high quality data in a timely manner is being thrown into sharper relief. “As limited partners (LPs) and regulators demand greater transparency and insight, fund managers are under pressure to adopt reporting technology to satisfy these demands,” explains Moritz Haarmann, Head of Product Development, AssetMetrix. “The trend for digitisation in private capital has been in action for several years, but it has come into the spotlight even more over the course

iConnections: Best Fund Raising Solution – As travel restrictions extended beyond March 2020, raising assets without face-to-face meetings proved challenging, especially in private markets which are heavily reliant on personal relationships. In this environment, asset owners and investment managers recognised the need to think laterally and search for a virtual platform which understands the bespoke needs of the private capital community.  “Prior to the pandemic, the capital introduction process was largely centred around conferences, which by their very nature tended to be quite regional in their reach,” observes Ron Biscardi, CEO and Co-Founder of iConnections. “They also tended to have a narrower scope,

FIS: Best Portfolio Management Software Provider – As private equity continues to attract more and more capital from existing and new sources like high-net worth individuals, managers must meet the changing investor needs. There has been a rise in asset class cross-over with traditional managers buying private firms or starting closed-end vehicles and private capital firms launching open-ended structures. 

SS&C Intralinks: Best Investor Relations Technology – Requests for more data and transparency are changing the private equity landscape. These demands have become burdensome from the general partners’ (GPs) perspective so the need for efficiency on this front has been pushed to the fore. “Although these demands have been on the rise for the past few years, they increased pretty rapidly over the last year,” comments Bob Petrocchi, senior vice president and co-general manager of SS&C Intralinks. “I think, because we were operating remotely, these requests were compressed in terms of timeframe. We also observed heightened levels of expected responsiveness. In