Cyber security
9 May 2022
And the nominees are…
SyndicateRoom’s Graham Schwikkard recounts his journey from COO to CEO by bringing the firm’s tech function from Portugal to the UK, leading to the creation of a bespoke nominee platform to run its EIS fund
25 April 2022
Comment: Make it hard for hackers
Drawbridge CEO Jason Elmer explores cybersecurity threats for PE firms and portfolio companies and explains why preventing easy access is key to mitigating breaches
21 April 2022
Private equity and hedge funds’ cyber security demands converge
Tom Cole, managing director - UK & Europe, Abacus Group, charts private equity’s increasing needs for robust cyber security,
20 April 2022
Techwork 2022: Juri Pervjakov, BaltCap
“With increasing workloads, we’ve had to consider the new role of the back office, how to streamline processes and automate workflows"
14 April 2022
Techwork 2022: Peter Tucker, IK Partners
“Running an IT department for almost 200 users (and growing), requires all areas of the IT service to evolve with the business”
14 April 2022
Techwork 2022: Lyndon Arnold, Triton Partners
“The ultimate objective is to use technology to improve manual processes and facilitate growth in every area, from capital raising through to investment activity”
13 April 2022
Due diligence goes digital
A new report found the majority of survey respondents intend to use more technology and tools to get diligence done in the future
13 April 2022
Techwork 2022: Mark Gully, InvestIndustrial
"In addition to our digital transformation programme there are a number of innovative ideas being explored that, once they come to fruition, will make an impact across the PE industry. Watch this space!”
13 April 2022
CTOs: Dealing with (unfair?) pressure
Alex Tyler and Ingolv Urnes of psKINETIC look at the challenges and successful coping strategies
12 April 2022
Techwork 2022: Victor Davies, Bregal Investments
“We want to build in more automation and use data in a more intelligent way to make decisions, across our IT and investment teams.”
11 April 2022
Techwork 2022: Adrian King, Pollen Street Capital
“We want to streamline our processes and the way we communicate with our key stakeholders, to enable us to scale deals and AUM efficiently”
11 April 2022
Comment: Unlocking private markets’ ESG potential
Hemal Mehta, founder and CEO of AtomInvest discusses the importance of sophisticated tech when it comes to ESG data collection, analysis and reporting
8 April 2022
Techwork 2022: Frédéric de Frésart, Argos Wityu
"Our IT infrastructure has evolved into a single hybrid network. Everyone uses and shares the same tools. That has been a huge evolution for our employees because it completely changed the way we work"
7 April 2022
Techwork 2022: Hind el Gaidi, Astorg
“Our ultimate aim is to capture the full value chain. From fundraising right the way through to exits, we want to ensure we have best of breed systems in place that will help us to ensure every part of the process is going well.”
6 April 2022
Techwork 2022: Patrick Gloor, Montana Capital Partners
“The most important part of my work was and still is, constantly improving cyber security while maintaining the flexibility needed by our employees.”
5 April 2022
Techwork 2022: Marc Boullier, PAI Partners
“I want to digitalise deal sourcing, taking into consideration finance, ESG and procurement”
4 April 2022
Techwork 2022: Neil Hendricks, Hg
“We encourage a feedback culture, so people can tell us what is working, what isn’t and what helps with their day jobs. That’s the best way to ensure our technology is constantly fit for purpose”
4 April 2022
Techwork 2022: Ash Patel, ECI Partners
“Some of my main achievements for the firm include outsourcing our IT services to a managed service provider (MSP) so I can put a greater focus on the strategy and governance part of IT"
4 April 2022
The Techwork 2022
Our annual Techwork report charts the industry’s digital progress by focusing on a select group of individuals responsible for this crucial work
1 April 2022
“Every PE firm should have a CTO” - Jolt Capital
The need for PE firms to have a CTO is becoming increasingly important, and could become key to a firm's survival
30 March 2022
GP tech adoption looms large on LP investment decisions
The majority of LPs' investment decisions are influenced by GPs’ level of technology adoption, according to a recent survey by Brackedale consulting and AssetMetrix
25 March 2022
Drawbridge launches industry advisory board
The IAB aims to foster an open exchange of ideas and best practices to help advance cyber defences for the alternative investment community
14 March 2022
LISTEN: Lessons learned with Steve Darrington
Our latest podcast details his approach to risk management, walking the line between optimism and realism, and thinking the unthinkable.
14 February 2022
Operational Lens: Pantheon Secondary Opportunities Fund (PSOF)
With a total AUM of $52.3bn, Pantheon is a machine when it comes to fundraising. We take a look at the $624m PSOF, to discover how the pros get the job done.
27 January 2022
Your data: Time to take the steering wheel
Private capital firms cannot let off-the-shelf software solutions control data strategy, writes Ingolv Urnes of psKINETIC
19 January 2022
Drawbridge appoints three
The cyber security software provider also creating a DEI office to expand its talent pool and employee development
10 January 2022
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
22 December 2021
High profile collection
Selection of The Drawdown’s favourite profiles with key operational professionals in 2021
13 December 2021
European LPs: anti-greenwashing regulation won’t work
Only 44% of European LPs are optimistic about anti-greenwashing regulation making it easier to distinguish true environment-related claims from greenwashing, according to Coller Capital
9 December 2021
LISTEN: Talking tech transformation
Hear the insights and expert views of five PE and VC finance and tech professionals on key tech trends
25 November 2021
Comment: Alternative managers challenged to build virtual fort knoxes
The cash-in, cash-out nature of fund management requires sophisticated cyber controls, write Jeremy Slade and Don Jefferis of Hazeltree
8 November 2021
Cyber psychology
With cyber attacks increasing, the matter can no longer be an IT problem. It's time for private equity to see cyber threats as a major business risk, and with that, human behaviour needs to be front and centre.
27 October 2021
Blockchain and big data most important future tech tools
Intertrust Group’s latest report found 46% of respondents cited blockchain/DLT as the most important tech tool for private capital funds over the next five years
7 October 2021
LISTEN: The Drawdown speaks to Private Equity Technology Podcast
Alice Murray, editor of The Drawdown, speaks to Lisa Weaver-Lambert and Alex Agran of the Private Equity Technology Podcast
27 September 2021
RFA launches Application Lifecycle Management
The tool provides an additional step that performs a static code of analysis against security vulnerabilities during the build process
24 September 2021
The Drawdown Awards 2021: Winners announced
Congratulations to the winners of our recent 2021 Drawdown Awards
20 September 2021
Profile: Frédéric de Frésart, Argos Wityu
The chief information officer discusses the firm's digital transformation, key considerations to ensure security isn't breached for hybrid working models as well as why blockchain is one to watch
14 September 2021
Drawbridge hires three
Adam Menkes is global head of ops, Jacob Cane is head of strategy, while Art Murphy is director of BD
8 July 2021
The Drawdown Awards 2021: Finalists Announced
Thank you to everyone who entered, and a massive congratulations to all those that made the shortlist
29 June 2021
Drawbridge appoints COO
Scott DePetris will drive the firm’s global strategy and business operations
18 June 2021
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
9 June 2021
Drawbridge launches cyber risk module for PE
The module provides PE funds with a single view to monitor the cyber risk profiles of their portfolio companies in real-time
17 May 2021
In conversation: Cyber security, an ESG concern
A recent webinar discussion explored the treatment of cyber security as an ESG practice
13 May 2021
Profile: Sedef Köktentürk, Blue Horizon
The managing partner & COO discusses upgrading the impact investor's technology and processes, how the niche strategy impacts her role, and how being an Olympic athlete taught her the value of collaboration and cooperation to achieve goals
5 May 2021
5 minutes with… James Tedman, ACA Aponix
Tedman discusses the biggest cyber security changes in PE in the last five years, the firm’s ACA Protect and PortCo Defend products, and what’s in store for the next 12 months
29 April 2021
The Techwork: Christopher Conradi, FSN Capital Partners
"Technology is personal - let people pick the phone they want, the laptop they want and the software tools they want."
28 April 2021
The Techwork: Simon Andersen, 3i
“Today, digitalisation is at the heart of 3i’s investment strategy and operating model."
27 April 2021
The Techwork: Neil Patel, Apax Partners
“The key focus at present is improving agility, introducing and pioneering technology that allows the firm to work more efficiently as it grows.”
21 April 2021
The Techwork: Alex Mathers, Inflexion
“My job isn’t to take over from the management team, it’s to help them get to the right priorities and find the right people to help them.”
20 April 2021
The Techwork: Mark Peacock, Nordic Capital Advisors
“We’ve taken a much more aggressive IT security stance, aided by the implementation of key preventative, detection and response technologies.”
19 April 2021
WATCH: Cybersecurity, and ESG concern
Cybersecurity is a matter of good governance, as well as reputation and risk management - putting it at the heart of ESG practices
16 April 2021
The Techwork: John Eggleston, Pantheon
“Technology and data transformation are priorities for us to ensure successful growth, investment returns and customer service as a global investor.”
14 April 2021
The Techwork: Olof Hernell, EQT
"We decided to build our own operational platform that is totally scalable and future-proofed for what I think will be much higher demands in the future.”
13 April 2021
The Techwork: Stuart Mair, BC Partners
“We want to ensure that we utilise and optimise our data, providing better insights for the business using the full Microsoft BI stack, reporting visualisations and analysis.”
9 April 2021
The Techwork: Andy Sobek, Permira
"I’m trying to build capability to keep the dealdoing machine well oiled. Deal doers are smart and entrepreneurial and my job is to underpin their work; to support quicker and better deal doing.”
7 April 2021
The Techwork: Ahmed Khamassi, Stirling Square Capital Partners
“The main improvement we want to make in terms of technology is to ensure it is designed with our people in mind.”
1 April 2021
The Techwork: Kevin Muller, Coller Capital
“We have a multi disciplined view on data; the tools we use and how people consume data. We’re running a multi-year data maturity initiative.”
1 April 2021
The Techwork
Private equity's digital transformation has undoubtedly been catalysed by events of the past year
9 March 2021
Long Ridge backs Drawbridge
Cyber security provider Drawbridge currently counts 300 alternative asset manager clients
8 March 2021
Technology: Cyber Security award winner: ACA Aponix
Partner Mike Pappacena explains why the firm is moving into ESG