Over 100 global asset management firms have agreed to issue new transparency reports
Transparency has never been more important for asset managers with investors demanding deeper and more accurate information.
Montreal-based due diligence specialists Castle Hall has signed up more than 100 global asset managers for the formal launch of its DiligenceExchange Transparency Reports.
The asset firms that have agreed to issue the reports represent ‘assets under transparency’ of more than $10 trillion.
The reports include key due diligence data across each investment manager / GP, fund entity and the manager's related control environment.
They are also subject to anti-fraud verification checks that are undertaken by Castle Hall and are free for both managers / GPs and investors / limited partners.
"Castle Hall believes due diligence is long overdue for a fintech makeover," said Chris Addy, Castle Hall's CEO.
Removing duplication
The firm’s recent research found that all asset managers surveyed said that at least half of investor due diligence questionnaires (DDQ) duplicate questions and 60% said that investor requests were highly duplicative, with at least two-thirds of investor questions duplicating data already requested by other allocators.
The new reports remove duplication which will save many hours for asset managers.
"At the moment, thousands of investors use spreadsheets or a proliferation of online survey tools to send their own unique lists of due diligence questions to asset managers and GPs,” said Addy. “While higher value questions may be investor specific and material to an investment decision, basic data - the first 50% of due diligence - is the same for all allocators. Yet, for managers / GPs, many investors asking for the same core data, but in slightly different ways, creates enormous duplication and time burden for IR teams."
DXC Transparency Reports move beyond spreadsheets and survey portals by utilising Castle Hall's online app, DiligenceHub, to deliver industry standard due diligence reference data.
"For investors, DXC enables in-house teams to move up the diligence value chain,” said Anne Coady, Castle Hall's managing partner. “ODD practitioners can use DXC Transparency Reports to identify risks and rapidly target discussion items that are material to their organization's investment decision - rather than consume scarce time dealing with baseline data gathering and verification."
