A LOCAL fund administrator has reacted to demand for private equity expertise by launching a new division.
IAG Private Equity Ltd has been established to meet growth as managers and institutional investors diversify their investment strategy into hedge funds, alternative assets and real estate. In Guernsey, private equity asset class values have increased 66% year on year, reaching £34bn in December 2007.
International Administration Guernsey Ltd managing director Raymond Page (pictured) said the new division would meet the growing needs of its clients. ‘There is still a significant amount of capital available for private equity firms,’ he said. According to independent global consultant Private Equity Intelligence, the sector passed a landmark $2tn in assets under management by the middle of last year and raised more than $500bn of new funds in the process.
IAG was formed by Alison Simpson and Mark Woodall in 2000 and has US$10bn under administration. The company has expanded from 12 to 25 staff in the last 18 months at its Regency Court offices. Chris Cochrane is the managing director of the new division, with Neil Fell as client accounting director and David Earles as systems and project director.
Mr Cochrane, who joined in January with 15 years’ experience in private equity administration, said IAG was not ‘shackled by layers of management or bureaucracy, which can be found in branches of larger institutions’.
He said client relationships were particularly crucial in private equity, where funds have a 10-year life.
Mr Fell has worked in the finance sector for over 20 years, with expertise in fund audit and accounting.
Mr Earles is a systems specialist with two decades’ experience in finance, the last five of which were centred on private equity.
He will be responsible for the implementation and administration of Investran, a private equity back-office system.
Article posted on 28th May, 2008 - 2.30pm
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