If you’re still using Excel to run your firm and analyze large sets of data, continual monitoring, as Sajjad Jaffer, co-founder of the advisory and investment firm Two Six Capital, puts it, can feel a lot like trying to lose weight: “If you really want to see results, you need to step on the scale every day.”
So it makes sense that, from The Blackstone Group to TPG Capital, more PE firms are beginning to recognize how investor relations technology is speeding up processes and transforming the industry. In fact, 62% of PE CFOs invested in investor relations software in 2018, and this number is only growing.
Why? To start, non-digitized private equity firms are starting to be perceived as out-of-date, with limited partners passing judgment on general partners regarding their data savviness, damaging long-standing reputations and future ability to raise funds.
Along with the perceived risk of being outdated, private equity firms that aren’t innovating through disruptive technology not only lose out on streamlined internal processes but also on the ability to fully understand a business from the bottom-up through board-level insights and understanding of true performance and future projections.
By leveraging advanced analytics and technologies, fund managers can gain instant access to detailed information about a target company and its competitive position, significantly improving the firm’s ability to assess opportunities and threats, while standing out from the growing competition.
5 Steps to Gaining a Competitive Edge in 2022
To overcome these risks and gain a competitive edge in the 21st Century, firms can take action and leverage Investor Relations technology to tackle the industry’s leading challenges head-on.
- Leverage AI to Stay Relevant In a Competitive Market
In order for firms to maintain, and grow, their reputations, they need to leverage disruptive technology to stay relevant, which means straying away from spreadsheets and software with limitations. As featured in an article from Knowledge@Wharton, while Salesforce can be great, it’s really just a place to log data, and doesn’t offer any informed data intelligence.
To gain the edge, firms need to begin embracing AI and data intelligence platforms that can provide actionable insights down to the fund-level within minutes, and then be able to analyze that data to help LPs make better informed strategic decisions.
- Speed up audits and compliance processes
Data analytics tools are transforming how decisions are being made, not only throughout the investment lifecycle but also internally. For firms looking to better operationalize their internal teams, digitizing their processes is a great move to save teams time through streamlined audit and compliance processes that can run on set and forget automated workflows, while opening up the doors for newfound clarity and team alignment. - Manage Fund Details with Due Diligence
Businesses create a lot of data they can’t manage properly, leading to firms operating at suboptimal levels in Excel (and the limitations it has on providing insightful data).
Through data-driven, digitized dashboards, PE firms can more effectively, and efficiently, manage operational performance across their portfolio.
- Increase Transparency in LP Communications
Access to the same data drives consistent decision-making across investors, LPs, and firm decision-makers and stakeholders. Through a centralized portfolio dashboard, firms can prove differentiation and create more value at a fund level, arming LPs and key stakeholders with transparent, actionable data and insights to help drive better decision-making. - Reduce Multiple Stored Systems and Internal Process Inefficiencies
Firms reliant on error-prone spreadsheets, manual processes, and multiple storage systems not only lack clear visibility into performance, but also aren’t empowered to make strategic, data-driven decisions when it comes to people, processes and technology.
Through centralized, digital systems, VCs can ensure teams are consistently focused on the right priorities while eliminating the ability for under-performing team members to hide behind manually manipulated data, and reveal insights and growth trajectories that otherwise may have never been exposed.
Step into the 21st Century by Streamlining Your Private Equity Software Stack
Ready to digitize your firm’s private equity software? From streamlined operational processes to the ability to empower LPs in your portfolio with actionable, data-informed insights, shifting your PE Software Stack to a centralized digital platform could just be the competitive edge your firm needs to land its place on top in 2022.
Altvia combines all of these powerful solutions into one centralized platform, empowering your firm to stay up to date and maintain its best-in-class reputation.
How, specifically, could Altvia help you benefit from digitizing your private equity software in 2022? The best way to find out is to talk with us about how your firm operates today and the improvements you’d like to make.
