The Tech’s Factor: The digitalization of private markets in 2022 and beyond

Key findings

Key findings include:

External digital investments are expected to increase. Big firms are much further along in terms of digital adoption and expectation. This means that smaller firms can still capitalize on a first-mover advantage.
Portfolio/fund management and analysis, and investor profiles ranked first as firms’ top digital priorities.
Cloud/Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) will have the largest impact on how private equity firms operate over the next ten years. The primary benefit of using cloud/SaaS platforms is to streamline operations.
Third party service providers are used for a wide variety of services. For instance, 81% of larger firms use a specialist third party software service provider for their due diligence.
Operational efficiencies will be the single most important long-term effect of digitalization.

The private capital management industry of old is no longer fit for purpose. For those that have not yet fully embarked on this journey, it is necessary that they carry out end-to-end reviews of their operations and look for ways to improve data capture and management, migrate from sub-optimal legacy systems and enhance the quality of services provided to their valued investors.