Accounting standards

Lionpoint launches treasury practice

Former head of operations at KKR Danny Olds will lead the practice

Vector updates fund accounting tool

The fund administrator has incorporated a GP and LP portal into Valence

Valutico partners with Integra International

Tax, audit and accounting association will offer Valutico’s valuation services to its clients

The valuation conundrum

Malcolm Goddard, COO of Zetland Capital, questions whether the industry built up to assess PE valuations is fit for purpose

Around the books in 80 days

GPs' travels through the auditing process

Apex acquires Axess Accounting Office

The acquisition expands Apex’s presence in Japan

The Drawdown Awards winners: 73 Strings

The Drawdown speaks to Yann Magnan, CEO and co-founder of 73 Strings, winner in the Technology: Innovation category at The Drawdown Awards 2023

Cypress Growth Capital invests in PFA Solutions

The Dallas-based software and technology focused growth capital investor has invested $2m in the financial industry SaaS solution provider

ACP opens Luxembourg office

The admin centre will be headed by finance director Iain Smith

HarbourVest appoints head of fund accounting

Peter Mahoney joins from asset manager Vanguard

The Drawdown Awards 2023: Winners announced

Congratulations to all of the winners of The Drawdown Awards 2023

Hazeltree appoints CTO

Richard Winter joins from fintech Finastra

PE firms better at shifting costs of W&I

Some 17% of PE deals saw sellers pay an insurance premium, compared to just 2% in non-PE deals

Former Sanne execs set up new fund admin business

Ex-Sanne senior leaders have launched Palmer Street, with £8m backing from Marwyn Value Investors

Bridges promotes seven

Asa David and Nazli Kayalp have been promoted to fund director and fund manager, respectively, and Iveta Grazule is promoted to legal associate

Harbourvest appoints head of client operations

Javier Rodriguez will manage the integration of the firm’s client experience, investment accounting, treasury, portfolio analytics and performance measurement teams

The challengers

Charting the rise of the new fund admin kids on the block, looking to break the mould

Bloomberg partners with Burgiss

Partnership intended to provide custom reporting and increased comparability of funds

Finding the breach

Compliance and financial statements constitute most commonly breached warranties on operational M&A deals

GoldenSource launches investment book of record

The additional functionality was created in partnership with MAIA Technology

TMF Group acquires PartnersAdmin

Fund admin aims to expand presence in North America

Apex acquires Efficient Group

Apex aims to expand its footprint in South Africa

Formidium launches Razor State Consulting

The launch aims to support fund managers with accounting and operational solutions

Altum appoints group chair

Baroness Helena Morrissey has campaigned for diversity and inclusion throughout her career

Core opens for business

The company offers a range of fund administration services for GPs based in Guernsey

Talos partners with Formidium

The partnership combines fund administration services with digital asset trading strategies

Profile: Rebecca Roberts, Conviction VC

Co-founder and COO of Conviction VC, Rebecca Roberts, comments on the importance of understanding the needs of her team when building a successful enterprise

Neutral horizons

Invesco’s 2023 Investment Outlook predicts a neutral valuations environment for the year ahead, despite tricky market conditions

Column: Smooth operator

In a challenging fundraising environment, operational leaders must ensure the machine room is running smoothly, writes Dörte Höppner, chief sustainability officer at The Riverside Company

Comment: Why the DPI performance metric is so important to investors today

ECI’s Jeremy Lytle urges private equity firms to use appropriate performance metrics as macroeconomic turbulence attracts greater investor scrutiny

IPEV publishes updated guidelines

The latest version includes updates reflecting the impact of distressed market conditions

Comment: Known or knowable? It depends

Nic Müller, CEO of Avega Capital Management, looks at a recent clarification to the IPEV guidelines, and hopes greater harmonisation is coming

CSC finalises Intertrust acquisition

CSC first bid for Intertrust in December 2021

IPEV board opens consultation

GP feedback requested on the association’s latest draft amendments to valuation guidelines

Comment: We need to talk about valuations, or face a credibility crisis

Robert Quartly-Janeiro, IR consultant and former LSE Visiting Fellow urges GPs to face the music

Data analytics should be top priority for service providers

EY believes off the shelf solutions will no longer work to achieve GPs’ data requirements

73 Strings partners with LemonEdge

The partnership aims to facilitate the flow of data between portfolio monitoring and accounting modules

BOE interest rate hike to impact valuations

“I think we can expect to see the interest rate hike exert some downwards pressure on valuations, though how much is difficult to forecast given the broader market conditions.”

House of Lords slams PE for “financial engineering and tax avoidance”

Lord Sikka pointed to private equity fund and deal structures in Switzerland, Jersey and the Caribbean, created for the purpose of “asset stripping, profit shifting and tax avoidance”

5 minutes with… DealsPlus

We caught up with founder Venkat Subramaniam to discuss how the platform is standardising deal closing and investment management processes

The pendulum has swung

The recent noise coming from the SEC is largely measured and unsurprising; as the asset class matures of course it should adhere to stricter oversight

ADS rebrands to PCDS

PCDS has also named BNY Mellon’s Scott Kern as its new board member

5 minutes with…. Untap

We caught up with new tech player Untap, which brings together portfolio monitoring, value creation strategy and ESG capabilities to bring about tech enabled portfolio management

Operational forecast for 2022

We take a look at Alpha FMC’s predictions for PE operations this year, as well as individual forecasts for CFOs, COOs, CTOs, CDOs and heads of compliance

BC Partners joins Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials

Membership marks the first private equity firm to join the PCAF

IPEV Board publishes review timeline

The IPEV Board has started the 2021 review process and expects to publish the final revised guidelines in Q2 2022

Taxation of partners: Changes expected

Alex Conway of Crowe UK details expected changes as to how partners will be taxed following the government’s current consultation

PE needs to spend more on data management

State Street's report found 70% of alternative asset managers said they need to spend more money on data management to handle increased pressures and demands

KPMG joins campaign for reporting taxonomy

KPMG UK has become a founding member of Private Capital Data Standards Alliance (PCDS Alliance – formerly ADS Initiative)

New horizons: Carbon pricing

Professor Gianfranco Gianfrate, Climate Finance Lead and Professor of Finance at the EDHEC-Risk Institute, says carbon pricing is happening and managers need to prepare

Comment: Managing privacy concerns surrounding FATCA and CRS compliance

Ed Harris, Louise Crawford and Adela Komorowska of Hogan Lovells examine the friction between enhanced transparency among tax authorities and the right to privacy

In conversation: Do we even need standardisation?

A recent podcast discussion explored technological advances in data transmission, and asked if standardised reporting is still necessary?

WATCH: What do LPs do with all the data?

A recent webinar discussion explored the way in which data is being communicated, how technology is helping both GPs and LPs, and what LPs are doing with all the information

A wild ride

Estimating fair value has never been more important or challenging

LISTEN: Do we even need standardisation? Episode 2

The second instalment of a recent podcast discussion examined industry body reporting efforts, and asked if standardised reporting is still necessary?

LISTEN: Do we even need standardisation? Episode 1

A recent podcast discussion explored technological advances in data transmission, and asked if standardised reporting is still necessary?

Comment: Choosing the right auditor

Karen Allan of Haysmacintyre outlines why a move to a mid-tier auditor can reap multiple benefits

Valuing a business in the Covid world

Owen Trotter, managing partner of Key Capital Partners, outlines his learnings on valuing companies in the current environment

GAAP in Lux

Avega Capital Management’s Nic Mueller discusses why the Grand Duchy’s new interpretation of accounting standards is important for private equity funds

The profile: Allan Dowie, CFO of N4 Partners

The Drawdown caught up with partner and CFO of new firm N4 Partners, Allan Dowie, who discusses setting up the firm during lockdown, implementing a new valuation process and information flows