Why your administrator's technology, tools, and team matter

Change is to be expected. In fact, much of your day-to-day work likely centers on responding to change—everything from managing market fluctuations to addressing unexpected events in your portfolio. One of the most exciting changes is how innovation is transforming private markets, driven in large part by technology.

Unfortunately, technological change isn’t something that many GPs are well equipped to handle. Most GPs would much rather be focused on finding good deals and deepening LP relationships than cultivating the necessary technology and IT skills to build an in-house system to manage data. But to be successful and continue to provide value to investors in an increasingly competitive market, GPs need to adapt to and act on the technology-driven changes that are powering the industry.

Many GPs are adopting technology, and those who do are benefitting. Our research shows that GPs who use technology to streamline fundraising consistently raised more capital from more investors. But some are still making common mistakes when it comes to adopting technology: They either ignore it altogether or they are half-heartedly embracing it in an ad hoc fashion.

The former group believes their personal relationships with LPs simply can’t be replicated with a software solution. For them, email often acts as their CRM, and spreadsheets serve as their investment management tool. Unfortunately, in addition to wasting valuable time on time-intensive manual activities, they’re likely missing out on investors who are looking for the same type of experience they get from nearly every other aspect of their lives, from banking to job hunting. Those investors are instead choosing GPs who have made an investment in providing intuitive, user-friendly digital tools.

The latter group firmly believes in the power of technology, but they’re randomly adopting different tools for different needs without considering how it all fits together in a strategic, investor-centric way. They end up having to account for investors across various systems, which means manually importing and exporting data, checking it for accuracy, and updating multiple systems every time something changes, or spending money and time figuring out how to integrate disparate platforms to ensure data is consistent, correct, and workable.

Are you in one of these camps? If so, you’re either limiting your ability to serve a wider investor base by providing a less-than-ideal investor experience or you could be creating more problems than you’re actually solving.

There is a simple solution. As your investment operations evolve and your investors’ needs become more complex, it might be time to consider outsourcing some or all of your administrative tasks. But choose wisely. You need an administrator with the right technology and the right team behind it. At Juniper Square, we call that Modern Administration.

Unlike traditional administrators that focus primarily on the production of fund financial statements, a modern administrator can help you navigate today’s constantly changing—and often challenging—investing environment by solving your administration challenges and making your operations, fundraising, and reporting more efficient.

It’s not just that a modern administrator makes it easier to meet investors’ demands for financial oversight—although that’s definitely a perk. The real benefits are the powerful tools, innovative workflows, and expert support that empower and enable your firm to perform at its peak. The right technology can help you drive deliberate growth, run your business with ease, and keep your investors impressed and ready to do repeat business with you. And the right team can provide invaluable support and put the right strategies in place to satisfy even the world’s largest institutional LPs.

Without the right technology, you’re missing out on opportunities to streamline operations and accelerate growth. The wrong technology also makes it more difficult to review and audit data, which can lead to unintended errors that can impact your business and your investors’ decision to invest with you. And the right team should work alongside you, help you understand how evolving trends might impact your firm, and serve as an extension of your team, not an impediment to doing business.

The right technology platform should fit the way you work and empower you to take charge of your investments, manage your investors, and run your business anytime, from anywhere. The trouble is many administrative platforms rely on outdated technology or third-party systems that are neither user-friendly nor investor-focused.

That’s not the case with Juniper Square.

We combine our industry-leading technology platform with the support of an experienced team of administrators. Our flexible digital tools are purpose-built to align with how you do business and allow you easy access to information for an at-a-glance look at a particular investor or your entire business. Multiple layers of physical and digital safeguards anchor Juniper Square’s rigorous approach to security and fraud protection and keep your firm and investors’ information safe.

We back our technology with the support of industry experts who are passionate about helping you and your investors succeed and laser-focused on making sure you meet your business goals. Our admin team knows our technology inside and out. They work alongside you to ensure all your administrative needs are handled; your data is accurate and set up to drive decisions, and your investor experience leaves your investors feeling supported and informed.

Together, our tools and team can help you successfully manage your investment operations, optimize fundraising, and deepen LP relationships.

Data is everywhere. In a world of data ubiquity, our technology is designed to structure and aggregate all your information on a secure platform that serves as a single source of truth. But it’s no longer enough to simply set up data and hope it creates results for your business. In today’s world, a well-defined and executed data strategy is what separates the trailblazers from those trailing behind. That’s why our admin team is dedicated to helping you implement strategies that allow you to take control of and find value in your data so you can make better, more informed decisions.

To make sense of your data, you’re going to need some tools. Your technology stack should extend far beyond just the data analysis. It should also include technology that automates the collection, storage, and management of data, and then determines how it should be visualized and reported based on industry best practices.

Our administration solution simultaneously delivers the risk reduction and efficiency gains of automation, while enhancing the control environment for GPs by automating workflows and enabling the visibility and approval rights that reduce errors.

And our portal allows you to directly satisfy investors’ data needs by offering easy, secure access to important documents, reports, and investment performance metrics in one place, increasing a sense of transparency and reducing ad-hoc questions.

Adapting to technological change doesn’t mean becoming a part-time IT expert nor does it mean adopting technology for technology’s sake. Instead, top GPs understand they can provide a higher level of service to their investors by taking a more holistic approach to technology adoption and by outsourcing the work they don’t specialize in to a team that does.

With an end-to-end modern administration solution, GPs can provide the kind of user-friendly experience investors expect and avoid time lost managing a dozen different digital tools. Crucially, when a software solution comes wrapped in dedicated administrative support, GPs can gain expert guidance on implementing and maintaining workflows, ensuring that the technology makes a difference for the investor.

Whether you’re actively looking for a new administrator or curious how it can make a difference, Juniper Square’s modern administration team is here to help. Contact us today.