The Tribune

A Bahamas-based EY (Ernst & Young) partner says the COVID-19 pandemic has "only further accelerated" the global investment fund industry's embrace of technology.

“The technological transformation occurring in the alternative fund industry has been accelerating quickly over the past few years, and the COVID-19 pandemic only further accelerated change,” said Tiffany Norris-Pilcher, who is also the accounting firm's regional emerging manager platform leader. “Alternative fund managers that haven’t made technology the focus will lag the competition in the years to come.”

She spoke out after EY released its 2020 Global Alternative Fund Survey, which found that the industry had risen to the occasion sparked by the COVID-19 pandemic in terms of investors’ expectations and managerial performance.

Investors generally felt their alternative fund managers either met or exceeded their performance return expectations. Some 58 percent of hedge fund clients, and the majority (81 percent) of private equity investors, reported their fund managers met or exceeded performance expectations during the market volatility that occurred as a result of the pandemic.

“Technology and innovation has long been a priority for the alternative fund industry and COVID-19 accelerated this trend with the abrupt shift to remote work,” said Jeffrey Short, EY partner and regional wealth and asset management leader for The Bahamas, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands and Cayman Islands. “Now, more than ever, managers need to prioritise innovation.”

The survey also found that investors were reasonably satisfied with their fund managers’ efforts to embrace technology and data. Hedge funds, in particular, were reviewed favourably, since over half (53 percent) of investors surveyed felt the sector was ahead of the curve from a technology perspective relative to other financial services.

When it came to credit and private equity, this number dropped to 30 percent and 28 percent, respectively.