Welcome to the investment operations content channel sponsored by SEI. Here you will find frequently updated features on future industry trends and operational issues for asset managers globally, with a focus on private equity, private debt, real estate and hedge fund managers.
Founded in 1968, SEI became a US public company in 1981 and is listed on the U.S. NASDAQ stock market under the ticker symbol SEIC. With our corporate headquarters based in suburban Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and a significant presence in London and Dublin, our 3800+ employees serve asset managers, institutional investors and financial institutions around the globe.
To help investment managers compete and succeed in an environment of escalating challenges, risks and complexity, SEI Investment Manager Services division provides the sophisticated operating capabilities and services needed to optimise their business performance across key product structures, asset classes and domiciles. Alternative and traditional asset managers worldwide currently entrust over USD1 trillion in assets with us.
According to a survey released by Deutsche Bank in September 2014, ‘From Alternatives to Mainstream Part Two’, total assets managed by ’40 Act mutual funds reached a record high of USD257 billion by end-2013, representing over 60 per cent growth for the year. Through May 2014, that figure had grown a further 18 per cent to over USD300 billion.
Limited partners are asking for more frequent, transparent reporting from private equity managers and are increasingly assessing a GP’s operations as part of their investment criteria.
By James Williams – Private equity has never been synonymous with the word liquidity when it comes to investing in alternative assets, but a new report by SEI’s Investment Manager Services division suggests that this may be changing.
Demands and nuances of Annex IV reporting across Europe could lead to a steady adoption of an outsourcing model among PERE fund managers.
Just 20 years ago, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) were novelties. Now, after two decades of explosive growth, they are firmly entrenched in the asset management landscape. Total US-listed ETF assets reached a record-setting USD2.0 trillion at the end of 2014, up from USD1.7 trillion a year earlier, and inflows totaled USD244 billion for the year.
Once a fund manager has got the middle office infrastructure in place – the hardware as it were – the logical next step is to work out how best to utilise it. How can the flow of data – and flow of data is not simply the software – be used in a smart, intelligent fashion to bring incremental gains to the way that the manager runs its business?
2015 will not be any easier for fund managers from an operational perspective. The raft of regulatory reporting under Annex IV and EMIR is set to increase, depending on the size of the manager, and the barriers to entry look set to remain high for new managers; both from a compliance perspective and investor expectations on operational infrastructure.
The Annex IV report under AIFMD contains 38 specific questions for the AIFM and over 300 questions for each AIF being passported across the EU. To say that it is a complex beast is an understatement.
SEI’s Lori White explains how social media platforms such as Twitter and LinkedIn can help investment managers market their business.
By Ross Ellis (pictured), SEI – The asset management industry is going through a transformative period dominated by two somewhat conflicting trends: growth and uncertainty.