Gryphon Fund Group, LLC the Ohio-based fund administrator providing back-office service for private and registered investment funds, has selected FundGuard, an AI-powered SaaS platform for investment management and administration, as its primary accounting book of record (Abor) for its open-end fund client base. According to the group, FundGuard’s intuitive, low-touch and cloud-native SaaS platform is designed to support the complex needs of today’s asset servicers, including real-time processing, all-in-one multi-book and multi-asset class capabilities and compliance with evolving regulatory ..read more

Asset managers have been increasingly proactive in launching sustainability-focused products, with notable growth in climate change (+18%) and Paris-aligned (+11%) funds, according to data. The research by Aviva plc’s global asset management business Aviva Investors’ 2024 multi-manager survey highlighted a rise in the number of sustainability-focused products launched over the past two years. Alongside climate and Paris-aligned funds, there was growth in positive impact (+8%) and UN SDG (+5%) products. The survey found that 56% of managers had seen increased demand for sustainability-focused ..read more

While buyout deal volume and value have declined from the 2021 pandemic peak, deal volume is stabilising at a lower level, according to a report on trends in global sponsor-backed deal-making. According to alternatives data provider Preqin’s Deal Flow Monitor: Q1 2024 report, while both buyout deal volume and value have declined since the pandemic high of 14,452 total deals closed in 2021, deal volume is stabilising at a lower level. European investors shift towards hedge funds and alternatives In Q1 2024, there were 1,780 deals, marking a 14% decline from Q4 2023. This current normalisation ..read more

A panel of industry experts is set to explore one of the funds industry’s greatest frailties – the onboarding of new customers – in a FundsTech webinar. The webinar is set to examine how technology can be used to improve the investor experience with a particular focus on the onboarding process. Despite the progress made in other parts of the investment process, from fund tokenisation to algorithmic trading, the act of getting a new customer up and running on an investment platform is still overly laborious and rife with manual processes. A panel comprising Richard Rae, senior manager, transit ..read more

Evelyn Partners Investment Management (Europe) Limited, the Irish subsidiary of leading UK wealth management group Evelyn Partners, has hired Brian Weber as head of business development. Evelyn Partners Investment Management (Europe), regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland, acts as the group’s hub for providing investment solutions and financial advice to private clients, corporates, trusts and charities in Ireland and other EU countries. The greener, the better Weber has about 35 years’ experience in the Irish investment management industry. He started his career at Goodbody and later work ..read more

Investment manager Neuberger Berman has partnered with German digital asset manager LIQID to facilitate direct and cost-effective access to privately held global companies for German investors. As part of the partnership, a Private Equity Experts Committee has been created between the two parties, which includes José Luis González Pastor (managing director, Neuberger Berman), Dr Florian Heinemann (founding partner, Project A) and Philipp Klöckner (advisor KKR Tech SWAT, angel investor and podcaster). Additional members are set to be added during th ..read more

The growth of the global ETF industry, which recently reached total assets of $12.71 trillion, is driven by a strong interest in active ETFs. These funds have demonstrated an annual growth rate of 38.4% over the past decade, according to a report. The Brown Brothers Harriman 2024 Global ETF Investor Survey has also indicated that investors are not only planning to increase their use of ETFs but also diversify their investments across a broader range of ETF providers. The survey, conducted by Brown Brothers Harriman and Co. (BBH), a global ETF custodian and administrator, gathered insights fro ..read more

North American alternative fund managers are increasingly looking to raise funds in Europe as they seek to broaden their investor base. Research from fund administration firm Ocorian found that more than a third (35%) of  private equity, private debt, real estate, venture capital and infrastructure fund management executives in the US and Canada responsible for $1.591 trillion assets under management who do not currently raise capital in Europe plan to start doing so within 12 to 24 months. Sixty-one percent of those surveyed say the growing recognition among North American fund managers ..read more

US-based asset manager Franklin Templeton has combined its distribution businesses in the Americas (ex-US) and Europe with the appointment of London-based Matt Harrison as head. The combined region includes markets such as Canada, Germany, Iberia, Italy, Latin America, and the UK representing $245 billion in assets under management. Since joining Franklin Templeton in 2018, Harrison was previously head of Europe and UK and co-head of APAC. Prior to joining the firm, he worked in senior roles at various firms including Colonial First State, Commonwealth Bank and ING. In addition, Andrew Ashton ..read more

The early 2020s are exciting times for private markets. Traditional asset managers are pushing more deeply into this sector, particularly now that regulations allow firms to bring private assets to smaller, less sophisticated investors. Aligned with this, there is a regular flow of investor surveys that show how asset allocators plan to initiate or increase investments in private equity and similar unlisted asset classes. Private asset shift grows; infrastructure and debt lead preferences: survey finds Small and mid market buyout funds gain investor favour Fund managers eye increased allocati ..read more