What are the three key selling points of your business and service range?
Removing manual workarounds for back-office accounting
The alternatives market has grown significantly in the last 10 years, accompanied by an increase in complexity, a trend we expect to continue. As the market becomes more competitive, managers have sought to differentiate themselves in the push for alpha, resulting in incredibly nuanced back-office accounting requirements that traditional tech solutions have failed to keep up with. LemonEdge was designed with the future of the industry in mind, keeping processes fully automated for the full lifecycle of the fund, from complex allocations and closings, to management fees and waterfalls.
Making accounting data and insights more accessible
Having real-time access to data, and importantly insights on the fund and investors is vital in today’s environment. This simply isn’t possible if you’re using Excel and building workarounds in legacy systems or with your service providers. With LemonEdge, the entire process can be automated and you can move from just getting data for reporting, to uncovering insights which drive performance.
Enabling the back-office team to scale with industry growth
The market is forecast to grow by 40% in three years, on the way to becoming a $30bn sector by 2030. Scaling back- office human resources won’t be enough to allow managers to keep pace without the adoption of improved technology. At LemonEdge, we’re working with some of the top GPs, VCs, family offices and fund administrators to ensure they don't get left behind.
How would you describe the role your services played in helping your private markets clients navigate the economic landscape of the past 12 months?
The past year saw private markets hit a bit of a pause, with firms focusing on maximising efficiency. That’s where LemonEdge made a huge difference. Our clients were able to automate their accounting and reporting processes, which not only reduced lost time, but also improved LP reporting. It’s been all about helping them do more with less while staying efficient and future-ready.
What product or service innovation from the past 12 months are you most proud of?
One of the biggest challenges in the market is dealing with complex calculations. Everyone defaults to Excel, as naturally, nobody wants a black box i.e. just the answer – they need to see the calculation. Our embedded calculation engine has fundamentally changed how our clients do their work. We deliver all the automation, audit trails and permissioning the business requires, but the users can see the entire end-to-end process, building confidence and auditability.
What are the key developments to watch in the private markets space, and how is your service offering helping firms navigate them?
Consolidation of fund administrators
As fund administrators consolidate, they are migrating from disparate, legacy systems into a single, central solution. The breadth of complexity supported in LemonEdge allows fund administrators to mirror any process from multiple legacy systems and to transition their operations across all their fund manager clients seamlessly.
Shadow accounting needs
In a world where accuracy and timeliness are key, traditional shadow accounting processes just don’t cut it anymore. LemonEdge supports not just fund accounting (ABOR), but also IBOR, CBOR, PBOR, and cash management, allowing fund managers to run a full shadow accounting process in real-time.
Family offices
The growth in the number of family offices has exposed a relative absence of fit-for-purpose solutions. LemonEdge’s flexibility has made our platform the go-to choice for family offices over the past 12 months, allowing them to leverage customised solutions that actually work for their unique requirements.
Are there ongoing or planned regulatory shifts for private markets firms to be mindful of?
DORA, which focuses on ensuring that investment firms’ digital infrastructure is resilient and secure, went into effect in January. If EU fund managers, or US managers are investing in or utilizing European based entities, and their providers don’t meet these requirements, they’ll need to make changes fast. The risk of waiting until the last minute is significant – rushed implementations, higher costs, and operational disruptions. To avoid that, it’s crucial for firms to understand DORA now, evaluate their current providers, and plan ahead. A proactive approach will prevent a lot of future headaches.
Ready to future-proof your back-office operations?
For more details on how your firm can eliminate manual workarounds and scale your fund accounting and reporting, visit our Private Equity page or contact us at sales@lemonedge.com.
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