Apex acquires rival fund administrator

Apex Fund Services has acquired Equinoxe Alternative Investment Services and simultaneously secured new private equity backing from Genstar Capital.

The acquisition, which is set to be finalized in the third quarter of this year, will boost Apex’s assets under administration to $80 billion. The Equinoxe team, headquartered in Bermuda, will remain in place.

It’s the first in a series of acquisitions Apex plans to make over the next three years. It is aiming to bring its assets under administration to $200 billion-$300 billion over the same period, the firm’s chief executive Peter Hughes said. This will be funded by private capital, including the undisclosed cash injection from Genstar.

Consolidation in the fund administration space has been rife over the past 12 months. This year Northern Trust bought the UBS Asset Management fund administration servicing units in Luxembourg and Switzerland and Wells Fargo’s Global Fund Services business was acquired by SS&C Technologies at the end of 2016.