NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Citco Group of Companies (“Citco”), a leading global provider of financial services software and software-enabled services, today announced the release of its Spring Industry Spotlight 2018 [here]. This latest industry report reveals that fund administration for the alternatives industry is approaching a tipping point, with mounting industry headwinds leading many fund managers to outsource middle-and-back office processes to achieve greater operational efficiency and scalability.
For the year ahead, Citco’s team of experts have identified the most significant issues and trends within the asset services industry for the following sectors: private equity, tax, real estate, hedge funds and private debt.
Private Equity: The greatest growth over the past several years has been in real assets – primarily from private equity and real estate funds. While investor allocations to these asset classes are increasing, only about 25-35% of these asset managers use a third-party administrator. Similarly, loan funds, which have historically managed their administration function in house, are now looking at outsourcing.
New Tax Framework: A unified framework for tax reform could have far-ranging and complex effects on both private equity (PE) funds and their portfolio companies (interest deductions, lower tax rates, territorial taxation, tax on business income, and capital expense).
Real Estate: With over US$3 trillion under management, the real estate sector has experienced significant growth throughout the Americas (40%*), Europe (35%*) and Asia Pacific (25%). As a result of this trend, real estate fund managers are choosing to outsource operations to build scale, enhance efficiency and gain access to best-in-class technology. We predict that over the next three to five years, real estate fund servicing will mature.
Hedge Funds: Rising costs, increasingly complex investment strategies, changing regulatory environments and the rapid pace of technological innovation are among the key drivers leading managers to outsource a greater portion of their administrative functions. We anticipate that the hedge fund industry will experience greater diversification across asset classes, move into hybrid strategies and launch a wide range of investment vehicles (including Cayman-domiciled funds and regulated on-shore funds). This trend will lead to a greater number of fund administrators offering bespoke solutions to fund managers, rather than a traditional standard model.
Private Debt: Debt funds have enjoyed success due to the advantages they offer to both borrowers and investors, making the closed-end private debt fund an important market participant. Emerging alongside managers are specialist administrators expanding product and service offerings to meet the differentiated needs of today’s market participants. Capabilities and products that include dedicated bank debt teams, monitoring capabilities and portfolio management software allow managers to automate asset monitoring and accounting in a centralized system.
As of January 1, 2018, Citco reported assets under administration across all product lines totaling US $950bn. Growth was largely fueled by strong performance from existing clients across emerging markets, private equity and real estate as well as equity investment strategies. In addition, new private equity and real estate mandates in the United States, Europe and APAC regions, offset negative flows in global macro and multi-strategy fund managers.
“Large changes taking place within the industry and the need to meet changing client demands has enabled Citco to reach a milestone of $900bn assets under administration,” said Jay Peller, Head of Citco Fund Services. “We anticipate the key drivers of fee compression, changing regulations and increased investment complexity will continue to shape the industry and lead to expanded product offerings across asset classes. Our team will remain steadfast in delivering the highest quality service and we are excited by the industry’s evolution.”
A full copy of Citco’s latest Industry Spotlight can be downloaded here.
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About Citco Group of Companies
The Citco Group of Companies is a worldwide network of independent financial service companies serving the world's elite hedge funds, private equity and real estate firms, institutional banks, Global 1000 companies and high net worth individuals. Citco companies service these sectors in their respective geographic areas by offering hedge fund administration, custody and fund trading, financial products and corporate and trust planning solutions. Citco has offices in over 40 countries with more than 6,000 staff.
