Fund admin business undergoes more consolidation

Third party service provider news: SS&C GlobeOp creates new group to service hybrid fund structures; ?Credit Suisse loses senior RE capital raisers; more. 

Gentoo Fund Services, a Guernsey-based fund administrator, expanded into Europe with the acquisition of Luxembourg rival SHRM Financial Services. The company will be renamed Gentoo Financial Services (Luxembourg).

• In a further sign of consolidation in the fund administration business, Apex Fund Services acquired Pinnacle Fund Administration. The deal expands Apex’s North America presence with additional offices in Charlotte, North Carolina; New York; and Vancouver. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

• Capitalizing on the trend of GPs merging traditionally separate investment strategies, industry software provider SS&C Technologies created a new group to support fund administration, accounting and reporting for hybrid fund structures. Led by George Schnell, the group will be responsible for setting up automated workflows, structuring and consulting on hybrid funds.

• Two executives from Credit Suisse Private Fund Group, the placement agent and advisory arm of the Swiss bank Credit Suisse, have left or are leaving, including the head of the group. Managing director Anthony Carpenito, who was head of the real estate group and was based in the firm’s New York offices, left Credit Suisse earlier this month and is said to be joining Boston-based hedge fund Abrams Capital Management. Meanwhile, another senior member of the real estate team, Sasha Silver, who had been a director based in London, has been hired as a member of the client development team at London-based real estate investment management firm Tristan Capital Management. She will be departing Credit Suisse in a few weeks and will start at Tristan in late May.

Intralinks, a software provider, launched a new product: Intralinks Dealmanager. The software is designed to help dealmakers evaluate and track deal opportunities in one centralized place, as opposed to spreadsheets, Microsoft Word documents and email.

AlphaPipe, a tech provider specializing in reporting software, rolled out a service to help LPs track changes made to fund managers’ Form ADV filings.

• Professional services firm Alvarez & Marsal appointed Age Lindenbergh as head of its financial services transactions team in Europe. Lindenbergh will be based in Amsterdam and will also be focusing on building A&M’s transaction advisory group across the Benelux region.

• Consultancy group ACA Compliance acquired Aponix Financial Technologists, which provides GPs cybersecurity and other technology risk assessments. As a result of the transaction, Aponix will become ACA Aponix. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Morgan Stanley named Frederik Wijsenbeek to executive director of its London-based global private equity team. Wijsenbeek was previously an investment partner at Global Family Partners, a family office.

First Avenue Partners, a placement agent, hired Patrick Shuttleworth as a London-based vice president. He was previously with private equity and infrastructure firm Zouk Capital.

Ray Iler, formerly a member of Deloitte's West Coast hedge fund practice, joined rival “Big Four” accounting firm EY. Based in San Francisco, he provides alternative fund managers advice on investment fund structuring, due diligence procedures, service provider selection and incentive fee structuring.

Barclays named Larry Hamdan head of mergers and acquisitions for the Americas. He will continue spearheading the UK investment bank’s global industrials M&A.

• Swiss investment bank Credit Suisse Group promoted Robin Rankin and Greg Weinberger as co-heads of its global M&A business. They replace Scott Lindsay, who becomes chairman of its global M&A franchise.