Summer is now over – unofficially, at least – and the private fund industry in the US is now back in full swing for what is the home stretch of the year.
So, with the mid-year slowdown behind us, for our blog post this month, we thought we’d check in on the current state of which service providers have been hired by new funds identified from Form ADV’s filed in 2024 so far. We’re also including the overall league table – so, older funds that were previously on the adviser’s Form ADV document - to see if there is anything interesting in terms of firms taking or losing share when it comes to new funds.
We’re looking at administrators, auditors, custodians and prime brokers for this one; we’re also using Gross Asset Value (GAV) of the funds as the league table position determinant. Data is used for the period up to and including 9/2/24.
Administrators
The top five fund administrators for new funds identified on Form ADVs submitted this year are well-known. But what is notable is the gap between State Street, which occupies first place with a GAV of $99.2bn, from US Bank, which holds second place with $36.9bn – almost three times the size.
The biggest mover among the firms nearer the top of the league table is US Bank. Overall, the firm ranked tenth, but is second in the table for new funds.
6,451 new funds representing a GAV of $518.6bn and 72,341 funds in total representing a GAV of $23,765.2bn were filed on Form ADVs submitted since January 1 this year that referenced their administrator.
Figure 1: Top Five Fund Administrators of New Funds Identified from 2024 Form ADV Filings (GAV)
Administrator | Funds GAV | Advisers | Private Funds | Market Share* |
State Street | $99.2bn | 31 | 94 | 19.1% |
US Bank | $36.9bn | 41 | 123 | 7.1% |
Bank of New York Mellon | $32.4bn | 23 | 63 | 6.2% |
SS&C Technologies | $30.7bn | 135 | 286 | 5.9% |
CITCO | $25.4bn | 60 | 128 | 4.9% |
Figure 2: Top Five Fund Administrators of All Funds Identified from 2024 Form ADV Filings (GAV)
Administrator | Funds GAV | Advisers | Private Funds | Market Share* |
SS&C Technologies | $3.70trn | 1,087 | 5,480 | 15.6% |
Citco | $2.95trn | 453 | 3,608 | 12.4% |
State Street | $2.70trn | 297 | 3,359 | 11.4% |
Northern Trust | $1.59trn | 224 | 1,275 | 6.7% |
Bank of New York Mellon | $1.20trn | 199 | 1,490 | 5.0% |
Auditors
No-one should be surprised by the league tables at the auditor level. Even for new funds identified on the Form ADV, the big four dominate. The only surprise here, perhaps, is the extent to which they do: in both cases, 80% of all funds are audited by one of the big four. That said, for new funds, the total penetration of the big four was 84%, down from 89% of all funds. Could this be the beginning of a trend?
4,434 new funds representing a GAV of $519.3bn and 70,972 funds in total representing a GAV of $28,434.6bn were filed on Form ADVs submitted since January 1 this year that referenced their auditor.
Figure 1: Top Five Fund Auditors of New Funds Identified from 2024 Form ADV Filings (GAV)
Auditor | Funds GAV | Advisers | Private Funds | Market Share* |
EY | $179.5bn | 153 | 413 | 34.6% |
Deloitte | $113.3bn | 108 | 356 | 21.8% |
PwC | $91.2bn | 158 | 454 | 17.6% |
KPMG | $54.0bn | 175 | 365 | 10.4% |
BDO | $10.6bn | 92 | 194 | 2.0% |
Figure 2: Top Five Fund Administrators of All Funds Identified from 2024 Form ADV Filings (GAV)
Auditor | Funds GAV | Advisers | Private Funds | Market Share* |
EY | $8.92trn | 1,446 | 12,722 | 31.4% |
PwC | $7.26trn | 1,444 | 13,646 | 25.5% |
KPMG | $4.99trn | 1494 | 9,266 | 17.5% |
Deloitte | $4.37trn | 1,056 | 9,658 | 15.4% |
Grant Thornton | $547.1bn | 365 | 1,909 | 1.9% |
Custodians
There is a similar story playing out in the custody world. Market share is not as clear here given that many advisers list multiple custodians for their funds on their Form ADV, but there are two notable differences at the new fund level, with State Street coming in third, up from eighth in the overall table, and Barclays coming in fourth place, moving up from seventh overall. Additionally, the market share of the top five providers at the new fund level is significantly lower than that of the overall picture.
5,721 new funds representing a GAV of $587.9bn and 84,589 funds in total representing a GAV of $26,528.5bn were filed on Form ADVs submitted since January 1 this year that referenced their custodian.
Figure 1: Top Five Fund Custodians of New Funds Identified from 2024 Form ADV Filings (GAV)
Custodian | Funds GAV | Advisers | Private Funds | Market Share* |
JP Morgan | $215.1bn | 508 | 1,276 | 36.6% |
Citigroup | $113.4bn | 62 | 172 | 19.3% |
State Street | $105.7bn | 34 | 121 | 18.0% |
Barclays | $98.1bn | 19 | 48 | 16.7% |
Bank of New York Mellon | $91.9bn | 175 | 411 | 15.6% |
Figure 2: Top Five Fund Custodians of All Funds Identified from 2024 Form ADV Filings (GAV)
Custodian | Funds GAV | Advisers | Private Funds | Market Share* |
JP Morgan | $11.58trn | 2,917 | 19,865 | 43.6% |
Bank of America | $8.99trn | 1,253 | 9,441 | 35.2% |
Bank of New York Mellon | $8.59trn | 1,082 | 7,051 | 32.4% |
Citigroup | $6.40trn | 650 | 4,731 | 24.1% |
Goldman Sachs | $5.68trn | 1,169 | 1,169 | 21.4% |
Prime Brokers
While specific to the hedge fund category, the prime brokers league table still sees the ‘brand names’ atop both lists. Like the custodian category, hedge funds can, and do, utilise multiple primes, so the market share does not exclude other firms. Still, as in some of the other categories, the market share of those firms atop the overall league table is generally much higher than those atop the new funds table.
1,097 new funds representing a GAV of $162.0bn and 9,904 funds in total representing a GAV of $9926.0bn were filed on Form ADVs submitted since January 1 this year that referenced their prime broker.
Figure 1: Top Five Prime Brokers of New Funds Identified from 2024 Form ADV Filings (GAV)
Prime Broker | Funds GAV | Advisers | Private Funds | Market Share |
JP Morgan | $117.0bn | 69 | 108 | 72.2% |
Barclays | $87.6bn | 15 | 16 | 54.1% |
Citi | $85.3bn | 14 | 15 | 52.7% |
Morgan Stanley | $43.7bn | 86 | 119 | 27.0% |
Goldman Sachs | $40.7bn | 86 | 98 | 25.1% |
Figure 2: Top Five Fund Prime Brokers of All Funds Identified from 2024 Form ADV Filings (GAV)
Prime Broker | Funds GAV | Advisers | Private Funds | Market Share |
JP Morgan | $6.44bn | 689 | 2,299 | 64.9% |
Goldman Sachs | $6.28bn | 946 | 2,549 | 63.3% |
Morgan Stanley | $6.07bn | 1,004 | 2,517 | 61.2% |
Barclays | $5.27bn | 189 | 625 | 53.1% |
Bank of America | $5.27bn | 473 | 1,345 | 53.1% |
That the big names continue to dominate the league tables in the four categories above should be a surprise to no-one; private fund managers tout their use of ‘brand name’ service providers as a middle and back-office differentiator, hoping that the potential investor feels more comfortable and confident investing in private funds that have an ecosystem supported by these so called ‘blue chip’ providers.
It is clear to see that the admin category is the one where the firms atop the leaderboard have the smallest market share. Regular readers of our blog might recall last month’s piece, where we offered our thoughts on the current state of that category specifically. However, what is notable about the data above is that in every category, the total share of the top providers is lower for new funds than it is overall.
Time will tell as to whether other firms end up taking more share or whether this most recent year is an aberration. And it must be emphasized that the data is only for new funds listed on Form ADVs filed so far this year; with four months still to go, much can change.
Still, we’ll be keeping a keen eye on this as we enter the home stretch of 2024 to see if this is indeed the beginnings of a trend in the private funds space.
*The data used in this article comes directly from the SEC’s Form ADV filings. 9AT does not edit or override data, even when it may appear that a mistake has been made by the filer, due to our data ethics and methodology policy.
A news story from Reuters recently suggested that buyout firm Astorg “is exploring options, including a sale, for its fund services business IQ-EQ” with a view to a sale in 2025.
Whether they sell it next year or hold it for longer remains to be seen. But what does not remain to be seen is the sheer scale of the involvement of private equity in the fund administration industry.
In June this year, trade magazine The Drawdown published its latest Fund Admin Report, which contains a table of fund administration providers, along with their ownership details; of the 30 firms listed, approximately a third are owned either outright by a buyout shop, or have a private equity minority investor.
Private equity firms love themselves a ‘platform’ investment, and fund administrators provide a natural home here due to the complimentary nature of their business with other service providers to pooled investment funds. These deals can scale quickly.
However, the good old-fashioned competitor acquisition would seem to have just as many legs.
Data collected and analyzed by 9AT suggests that, so far in 2024, 281 different firms were listed as the administrator of new private funds based on ADV filings submitted in 2024.* And while some of these private funds administrate their own funds as opposed to hiring an external provider, the long tail in the space remains a boon to buyout firms looking to either enter the space or grow their existing platform portcos.
The outlook for the market is an interesting one. Most industry players agree that generally, the fund administration industry will increase in size, but that is a misleading statement, because its size depends entirely on the AUM of the funds that they administer. Still, with global private capital AUM set to hit $18trn by 2027, there would seem to be plenty of opportunity to for admin firms to increase their AUA.
What is not certain is whether the increase in AUA will be absorbed mainly by the larger firms, or whether smaller players have a chance at closing the gap. One on hand, smaller firms might find it increasingly difficult to compete versus the larger ones as the metamorphosis of a private equity-backed fund admin provider into a diversified middle and back-office fund services business creates a greater gulf between the haves and have nots.
But on the other, smaller firms are nimbler generally, and it is not outside the realms of possibility that a well-funded start-up admin firm could take meaningful share quickly, particularly if they focus on a certain corner of the market – the underlying assets that private fund managers invest into are becoming broader, which should lead to opportunities for specialists to secure a foothold. Add to that the potential for a buyout firm to look to do a lift out of a larger firm’s fund admin team to a separate firm – the advantages which will be existing expertise, existing clients and brand name recognition – and you could see more ‘new’ firms enter the market.
Clearly, there are a few potential developments for the space, and it is unknown which way the market will go. But what is known is that private equity will remain, one way or another.
*The data used in this article comes directly from the SEC’s Form ADV filings. 9AT does not edit or override data, even when it may appear that a mistake has been made by the filer, due to data ethics and methodological considerations.
Back in April, we took at look at some of the Form ADV data to see how many times a private fund changed auditor. In case you missed it, here is the link to that one.
So, now that the first half of the year is in the books, we decided to take a look at the filings data again but this time from a different perspective – just how many private funds have filed a Form D in H1 this year and what, if anything, can we deduce about the results?
Well, the first thing to note is that, by any measure, the private funds industry seems to remain in good health.
According to 9AT data, 5,632 Form D filings were submitted to the SEC between January 1st and June 30th this year, good for a total Gross Asset Value (GAV) of $146bn.* Of those, 462 were hedge funds ($5.8bn), 1,563 were private equity funds ($76.1bn), 2,583 were venture capital funds ($27.1bn), and 1,024 were ‘other’ private funds ($37bn).
Type | Quantity | GAV |
Hedge Fund | 462 | $ 5,835,772,494 |
Other | 1,024 | $ 36,967,567,668 |
Private Equity Fund | 1,563 | $ 76,116,296,889 |
Venture Capital Fund | 2,583 | $ 27,105,706,746 |
*On occasion, filers may put the same GAV on multiple filings for the same product, which can lead to double counting in certain situations
Source: 9AT
At the domicile level, naturally, the United States occupies top spot, but in terms of offshore locations, Cayman is, once again, the most common offshore jurisdiction in the Americas for Form D filings in the US, accounting for 245 of the Form D filings in the first half of the year, followed by Luxembourg (114 filings). Ireland, a popular domicile in Europe for European managers launching a UCITS vehicle, saw only 10 filings in H1.
Domicile | Number of Filings |
United States | 5,019 |
Cayman | 245 |
Luxembourg | 114 |
Canada | 40 |
United Kingdom | 29 |
Source: 9AT
But what most folks really want to know is who is raising money. And it’s mostly the private equity types.
Of the top 10, 5 are private equity funds, 3 ‘other’ funds, one venture capital fund and one hedge fund*. 41 funds in total are raising $1bn or more.
Fund Name | Fund Type | GAV |
Nautic Partners XI, L.P. Nautic Partners XI-A, L.P. | private equity fund | $ 3,750,000,000 |
Pomona Capital XI (Offshore), L.P. Pomona Capital XI, L.P. | private equity fund | $ 3,500,000,000 |
Stellex Capital Partners III LP Stellex Capital Partners III-A LP | private equity fund | $ 3,000,000,000 |
Ninety One Global Alternative Fund 2 SCSp - RAIF - Africa Credit Opportunities Fund 3A | other | $ 3,000,000,000 |
ARCH Venture Fund XIII, L.P. | venture capital fund | $ 3,000,000,000 |
Sterling Group Partners VI, L.P. Sterling Group Partners VI (Parallel), L.P. | private equity fund | $ 2,750,000,000 |
Bridge Workforce & Affordable Housing Fund III LP Bridge Workforce & Affordable Housing Fund III-R LP Bridge Workforce & Affordable Housing Fund III International Master LP Bridge Workforce & Affordable Housing Fund III International LP | other | $ 2,500,0000,000 |
Heitman Value Partners VI, L.P. | other | $ 2,000,000,000 |
CDOF IV Cayman Fund, L.P. CDOF IV Delaware Fund, L.P. | Hedge fund | $ 2,000,000,000 |
Kline Hill Partners Feeder Fund V LP Kline Hill Partners Offshore Feeder Fund V LP | Private Equity Fund | $ 1,600,000,000 |
Source: 9AT
*Filers select the option of their choosing; 9AT does not change the definition in its database, regardless of whether industry participants might consider the fund to be a hedge fund, real estate fund, etc.
**The GAV listed in Table 3 for some funds is an aggregate amount of one or more funds, for example, the onshore and offshore versions of the same fund. We have combined those here, where applicable.
The data is notable, especially given the significant coverage in the trade media around the current fundraising climate. Industry data tracking firms across the board are showing that a significant pull back in allocating to private funds such as hedge funds and private equity is occurring, and industry conferences are replete with panels asking when the fundraising environment might begin to pick up.
We’re not saying that there isn’t a fundraising challenge right now. The prevailing interest rate and the geopolitical environment makes allocating to more liquid fixed income strategies more appealing both in terms of an acceptable yield and a perceived safe haven, and certainly, some private asset classes are struggling to maintain an acceptable spread over the risk-free rate.
But an industry that’s raising $146bn in six months arguably doesn’t show an industry that’s struggling either. Plenty of brand name managers are out there raising capital, and there are plenty of opportunities across a range of asset classes where that capital can be deployed.
What will be interesting is whether the second half of 2024 picks up. The recent court ruling in the United States at the beginning of June, where a group of trade associations banded together to sue the SEC alleging an overreach of authority with regards to the regulator’s Private Fund Adviser rule, has been welcomed in many quarters as a win for the space. All things being equal, it might be expected that a clearer regulatory environment (and a less onerous one) should be a catalyst for managers who have been sitting on the sidelines to now file their Form D and officially get out into the market to raise money.
We’ll have to wait until January 2025 to find out how the market fares in the second half of this year.
Artificial intelligence (AI) has long been deployed by asset managers in their investment strategy, particularly those that invest in and trade the public equity markets. The sheer volume of price history alone, for example, lends itself well to a technology that can analyse and determine patterns in minutes, as opposed to the weeks it would take a human to perform the same task.
Until the past few years, spending money on AI technology in the middle and back office has been less of a focus for asset managers. After all, it’s the less ‘sexy’ part of the business and has historically played second fiddle to the ‘rockstars’ of the front office.
That’s changing, however. And for a few reasons.
First is the continued fee compression seen in the private markets. As more firms and funds launch, competition increases, driving down costs - classic demand and supply forces. Asset managers need to find ways to lower their own costs so that they can deploy more capital (or maintain the spend) into the investment function. AI is a perfect use case for this; automating tasks previously done manually and speeding up other processes, both of which can save money.
Second is the ‘FOMO’ (fear of missing out) created by the recent explosion in the use of generative content tools like ChatGPT. These tools – which are improving seemingly by the week – can support an asset management firm with producing investor letters and notifying the appropriate people about any potential cybersecurity issues, are just two of many use cases for this technology.
Third is the increasing regulatory burden placed on asset managers in the market. Costs in the compliance function continue to increase due to the ever longer reach of the regulators. These costs aren’t purely hard currency costs; the time costs of compliance impact investment firms here as well. AI can save time and money supporting the compliance function, whether internal or outsourced, with both analysis and reporting.
Fourth is in trade reconciliation. While this is more specific to hedge funds than illiquid private fund categories, the recent move to T+1 settlement in the United States, Canada and Mexico has placed even more emphasis on the need for swift trade matching, and AI’s ability to analyse extensive data sets in order to match trades accurately is a clear use case here.
These themes are all medium to long term, structural trends, which are not going away. A quote often attributed to Bill Gates goes something like this: “If your business is not on the internet, then your business will be out of business.” The asset management version of this would seemingly be,
“If your asset management business is not using AI in the middle and back office, your asset management business will be out of business.”
AI is already an established tool for the portfolio manager to effectively implement their investment strategy. Now, it’s an essential tool for the middle and back office, too.
Despite the enormous amounts of money that they control, most hedge fund firms are ‘small’ companies: small in the sense of the number of people they employ.
And those that they do employ are busy. Not only is that because all small firms, regardless of industry, tend to exhibit more freneticism on a day-to-day basis than their larger counterparts; it’s because everyone, not just the investment professionals, are watching the markets alongside doing their actual job.
Certainly, they are usually too busy to proactively source new technology suppliers. Most hedge fund firms change their tech when something goes wrong with their existing one or prices rise to what they consider to be an unacceptable level. But they will tolerate price rises to a degree, and the odd glitch or display of poor customer support now and then, because changing providers requires not only sourcing a new one but onboarding it and learning a new system. There are no cost problems in business, only revenue ones, as the saying goes. Ergo, displacing tech competitors is difficult in hedge fund world.
That is why it’s important to get in at the beginning.
According to Form D data collected by 9AT, 299 hedge fund filings were submitted to the SEC in the first four months of this year. Of course, not all of those are emerging or start-up managers, so those existing firms launching new funds will have a tech infrastructure in place already. But plenty enough will be, and the data referenced here is only for the period January – April this year, which means eight more months of filings – and therefore, new hedge funds - coming to market in the remainder of 2024 for sales reps at tech firms to get excited about.
Of course, most of these new firms and funds will have used certain providers at a previous job and will already have their favorites. But it is also true that many of these firms will want to establish their own identity, taking a greenfield implementation approach to how they build their technology infrastructure. And they are often cost-conscious as well, meaning that firms with a more competitive price point have a better chance of success with the newer and emerging manager cohort.
And for firms that have technology that can be applied to many other silos in the alternative investment industry, there is an even larger audience to target. According to Form D data collected by 9AT, there were 998 Form D private equity filings in the first four months of this year, and 1,714 Form D venture capital filings, many more than in the hedge fund space.
There are, of course, many more hurdles for technology companies to negotiate on the route to new customer acquisition success. Tailoring the pitch to the fund’s strategy being one; back in the hedge fund space, it is well documented that equity hedge strategies comprise the preponderance of new launches overall, but not all of them will want the latest and greatest in public-equity related tech. And compliance being another – the SEC’s pending cybersecurity regulations for fund managers means that these firms will be more focused on whether new tech firms can reach a higher compliance bar.
Those hurdles are high – it’s not easy selling tech to a hedge fund. But those technology service providers that do get into new hedge fund firms at the ground level could, in time, enjoy the same competitive advantage that incumbent providers enjoy at the more established firms.
The first quarter of the year is a busy one for Registered Investment Advisers: those with a financial year end of December 31st are required to file an updated Form ADV within 90 days, so for those watching the private fund industry, there is plenty of information that can be gleaned from looking at this data.
Plenty of firms look at the data to see which firms and their affiliated private funds have changed service providers. Of course, private funds and their advisers changing service providers is nothing new. A range of factors drive the decision; costs, quality of the offering and the customer service function, to name a few.
But one service provider change raises more eyebrows than any other: Auditors.
Reasons that a private fund might change auditors include those listed above. But a change of auditor may suggest potential accounting issues or a breakdown in trust between the fund and the previous auditor. Neither of those reasons receive a green check mark on a due diligence questionnaire and almost always call for a deeper dive by the investor (and can even be a cause for redemptions for those that are at the ‘very averse’ end of the risk spectrum).
So, it perhaps comes as a surprise that, according to data collected by 9AT by aggregating Form ADV filings in the US, 2,346 private funds changed audit firm in the year to March 31st, 2024.
That seems like a high number on the surface. But looking at that in percentage terms, there were 75,468 funds outstanding at the start of the period, so at a macro level, only 3.1% changed auditors.
The SEC splits funds into sub-categories and the manager selects what they think is the most appropriate label for their fund when they file. Figure 1 below shows the breakdown of the number and percentage of funds that changed auditor in the period April 1, 2023 – March 31, 2024, based on the SEC filing category.
Figure 1: Private Funds that changed auditor, April 1, 2023 – March 31, 2024
Fund Type | Number of Funds Changed | Total Number | % |
Private Equity | 874 | 13,745 | 6.4 |
Venture Capital | 543 | 15,505 | 3.5 |
Hedge Fund | 458 | 29,705 | 1.5 |
‘Other’ | 269 | 7,750 | 3.5 |
Real Estate | 172 | 5,770 | 0.3 |
Securitized Asset | 28 | 2,895 | 1.0 |
Liquidity | 2 | 98 | 2.0 |
Source: 9AT
Whether the percentage figures above are high, low, or in the middle is a question for the individual, given its subjectivity.
It is perhaps little surprise which audit firms comprise the top five of the ‘competitor displacement’ table. Figure 2 below shows the top five firms, sorted by most to least, that have replaced a previous auditor. So, Deloitte has replaced the previous auditor most often overall; RSM has replaced the auditor most often in the private equity category, PwC in the real estate category, and so on.
Figure 2: Private Funds that changed auditor, April 1, 2023 – March 31, 2024, Ranked by Auditor and Category
Rank | Overall | Private Equity | Venture Capital | Hedge Fund | Other | Real Estate | Securitized Asset* |
1 | Deloitte | RSM | Frank, Rimerman & Co | Deloitte | Deloitte | PwC | Deloitte |
2 | KPMG | Grant Thornton | KPMG | KPMG | PwC | Grant Thornton | KPMG |
3 | PwC | PwC | Moss Adams | Richey May | Baker Tilly | EY | EY |
4 | RSM | KPMG | Deloitte | PwC | RSM | Citrin Cooperman | Weaver |
5 | EY | Deloitte | BDO | EY | Wolf & Co | RSM | Citrin Cooperman |
Source: 9AT
Note: The Liquidity Funds category only had two auditor changes in its entirety the time period analyzed so was excluded from the table and analysis
* The Securitized Asset category saw only five audit firms complete a competitor displacement in the time period analyzed
Interestingly, we see non-Big Four audit firms take up a significant number of spots (14) in the top five across the six fund categories. Indeed, in the Private Equity category, which saw the most auditor changes both from an absolute and relative perspective, the top two, RSM and Grant Thornton, are non-Big Four. In the Venture Capital category, which saw the second most changes from an absolute perspective and relative perspective, two non-Big Four names (Frank, Rimerman & Co and Moss Adams) appear in the top three.
Changing auditors isn’t for the faint of heart; transitioning to a new auditor involves a lot of coordination and document exchange. This can disrupt internal processes and be a drain on resources, especially for smaller funds, so regardless of the fund category, those that decided to take the plunge in the past 12 months clearly had what they felt were compelling reasons to do so. And when they did, there wasn’t necessarily a beeline straight to the Big Four.