LONDON, 10 October 2024 – Preqin, the global leader in alternative assets data, tools, and insights, published its Service Providers in Alternatives 2024 report. The report highlights the most important trends across the global alternatives markets for service providers and advisors, and ranks the industry's best law firms, fund administrators, placement agents, auditors, custodians, and prime brokers serving asset managers and investors.   

The report goes on to demonstrate that service providers in the alternative assets industry are well-positioned for accelerated growth. Assets under management (AUM) in the private capital industry stand at $16.8tn as of December 2023 and are forecast to reach $29.2tn by 2029, according to Preqin forecasts*. As the alternatives industry matures, fund managers and investors are seeking greater reporting, counsel and specialist expertise, which will make back-office functions – particularly those provided by law firms, fund administrators, and auditors – more important.  

Nicholas Donato, SVP, Head of Service Providers, said “The lasting power of certain service providers atop our leaderboard rankings is a testament to not only their service offerings, but the brands and reputations they’ve cultivated to continue earning clients’ trust as maturing funds managers continuously seek the right service provider at the right time.” 

Valerie Kor, lead author of the report, added “Adaptability and innovation are key traits that will help service providers get ahead. As fund managers are facing a challenging fundraising environment, they have started seeking opportunities in new asset classes or strategies, requiring back-office functions that can handle multiple strategies. However, they may not want to establish too many service provider relationships. This means that service providers that can offer data consolidation and automated workflows through the latest tech-enabled platform will become more appealing.” 

The Service Providers in Alternatives 2024 report ranks over 300 firms across a variety of categories including firm type, region, size of serviced funds, number of serviced funds closed, AUM, serviced funds in market, serviced first-time managers, and more. 

To access the Service Providers in Alternatives 2024 report to review the full league tables list**, click on the link: Service Providers in Alternatives 2024 | Preqin 

Top ranked firms include:  

Private capital fund administrators 

• Aduro Advisors - Prominent fund administrators servicing private capital funds, 2023-H1 2024, funds closed 

• Gen II Fund Services – Prominent fund administrators servicing private capital funds, 2023-H1 2024, assets under advisement (AUA) 

• Carta Investor Services – Prominent fund administrators servicing private capital funds, funds in market 

Private capital fund auditors 

• PricewaterhouseCoopers – Prominent fund auditors servicing private capital funds, 2023-H1 2024, funds closed 

• Deloitte – Prominent fund auditors servicing private capital funds 2023-H1 2024, AUA 

• EY – Prominent fund auditors servicing private capital funds, funds in market 

Private capital placement agents 

• Evercore Private Funds Group – Prominent placement agents in private capital, funds closed, 2023-H1 2024 

• Campbell Lutyens – Prominent placement agents in private capital, funds in market 

Private capital law firms in fund formation 

• Kirkland & Ellis – Prominent law firms in fund formation servicing private capital funds, 2022-2024 vintages 

• Schulte Roth & Zabel – Prominent law firms in fund formation servicing private capital funds, funds in market 

• Cooley – Prominent law firms in fund formation servicing private capital funds by fund size, 2022 – 2024 vintages, less than $50mn 

Private capital transactional law firms 

• Latham & Watkins – Prominent law firms involved in private equity-backed buyout deals, 2023-H1 2024 

• DLA Piper – Prominent law firms involved in private equity-backed buyout deals by deal size, 2023 – H1 2024, $500-999mn 

• Loyens & Loeff – Prominent law firms involved in real estate deals, 2023 – H1 2024 

Hedge funds fund administrators 

• SS&C GlobeOp – Prominent fund administrators servicing single-manager hedge funds 

• NAV Fund Administration Group – Prominent fund administrators servicing commodity trading advisors (CTAs) 

• Citco Fund Services – Prominent fund administrators services funds of hedge funds 

Hedge funds prime brokers 

• Goldman Sachs – Prominent prime brokers servicing hedge funds 

• J.P. Morgan – Prominent prime brokers servicing CTAs 

• Morgan Stanley Prime Brokerage – Prominent prime brokers servicing funds of hedge funds 

Hedge funds custodians 

• BNY Mellon – Prominent fund custodians servicing single-manager hedge funds 

• State Street Custody Services – Prominent fund custodians servicing CTAs 

• Northern Trust Custody Services – Prominent fund custodians servicing funds of hedge funds 

Hedge funds law firms 

• Maples Group – Prominent law firms servicing single-manager hedge funds 

• Sidley Austin – Prominent law firms servicing CTAs 

• Seward & Kissel – Prominent law firms servicing onshore hedge funds 

Hedge funds auditors 

• KPMG – Prominent fund auditors servicing hedge funds 

• RSM – Prominent fund auditors servicing CTAs 

• EisnerAmper – Prominent fund auditors servicing funds of hedge funds 

Methodology    

Preqin League Tables are compiled using data on almost 100,000 private capital funds, 532,000 private capital deals, 54,000 hedge funds, and over 9,500 service providers from Preqin Pro, Preqin’s flagship alternative assets data platform. Unless otherwise noted, firms included in the league tables are based on the number of known funds or deals serviced within the given criteria. In the event of a tie, firms with the same number of known fund or deal clients are ranked according to the aggregate value of the funds or deals.  To learn more about the methodology used, or for firms wishing to share data for future reports, contact info@preqin.com.   

Preqin League Table badges 

For firms ranked in the Preqin League Tables in the Service Providers in Alternatives 2024 report, email marketing@preqin.com to request a Preqin Badge, a digital award certified by Preqin that can be used to promote or verify a top firm's success in PNG, SVG, and social media-friendly versions. 

#ENDS# 

Notes to editors 

* According to figures from Preqin’s Future of Alternatives 2029 report  

**The report is freely available, but users may be required to create a Free Account to access the full content.