In the dynamic world of private fund management, the need for effective partnerships has never been greater. Fund managers are increasingly relying on trusted third-party outsourcing providers to optimize their operations, manage compliance obligations, and reduce costs while achieving sustainable growth. This has become especially pertinent amid today’s rising fundraising and regulatory pressures. 

This report brings to light how firms are approaching these arrangements, what is motivating their outsourcing decisions, the business functions that are best suited for delegation, and the pivotal role that technology is playing in this industry-wide trend.

Key Findings

• The greatest challenges from a fund operations perspective that respondent organizations are currently navigating are regulatory scrutiny (30% of first-choice votes) and difficulties with fundraising (27%).
• In the important area of technology, the two greatest challenges identified by our respondents include scaling up technology systems (30% of first-choice votes) and resource allocation/limited budget (27%).
• Almost all respondents (97%) believe their collaboration with outsourcing partners has generated value for their organizations, and two-thirds believe outsourcing will become more important over the next 3-5 years.
• The only elements of fund operations that large subsets of respondents say they retain strictly in-house include portfolio valuations (43%), fund accounting (38%), and fund administration (30%).
• Despite its rapid rise in corporate agendas, hardly any respondents describe ESG reporting as a top-of-mind issue (zero first-choice votes, and just 3% of second-choice selections).