Inaugural fund available through UBS Wealth Management will use iCapital’s advanced technology to optimize fund management and operations across the alternative investment ecosystem
iCapital1, the global fintech platform driving access to alternative investments for the wealth management industry, today announced the successful launch of the first fund leveraging iCapital’s new Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT). The fund is distributed by UBS Wealth Management. This marks an important technological advancement for increasing scale and real-time connectivity across the alternative investments experience. The milestone launch delivers on iCapital’s commitment to technology that creates unmatched operational efficiency and convenience for over 100,000 U.S. financial advisors.
iCapital's DLT is designed to simplify and enhance the lifecycle management of alternative investments. It aims to foster a more secure, efficient alternative investment management environment, connecting key financial players and allowing for seamless data sharing and transaction processing. This ledger technology is expected to eliminate 100,000+ activity reconciliations over the average life of a private capital fund2, improving data processing visibility and efficiency, reducing errors, and enhancing overall investment handling. As a result, iCapital’s DLT is expected to not only save clients thousands of hours of manual data reconciliation and version sharing, but also create significant cost savings and productivity gains in addition to reducing the risks associated with manual data entry.
“Distributed ledger technology represents a significant milestone for iCapital’s innovation. Our technological commitment and experience positions us to spearhead this advancement in support of our clients’ investment lifecycle activities. We are dedicated to optimizing the entire alternative investing experience, enabling fund managers and wealth advisors to operate with efficiency, precision, and ease,” said Lawrence Calcano, Chairman and CEO of iCapital. “We’re excited to collaborate with UBS as our distribution partner for the milestone launch of the first fund using iCapital’s Distributed Ledger Technology. Additionally, we look forward to launching more funds with other partners in the coming months.”
The first fund is distributed by UBS Wealth Management and administered by Gen II. All lifecycle activities – including subscriptions, capital activities, reporting, and liquidity for the fund – will be orchestrated through iCapital’s DLT, which automates data and document connectivity between firms and minimizes manual data reconciliation.
“This is an important step forward in creating greater efficiency and improving fund data quality,” said Jerry Pascucci, Co-Head of Global Alternative Investment Solutions for UBS Global Wealth Management. “We are continuously striving to make it easier for our financial advisors to manage and monitor their clients’ alternative investment holdings.”
The release of iCapital’s DLT is part of the firm’s ongoing commitment to innovation and digital transformation, following recent launches like iCapital Marketplace, Architect, Model Portfolios, and the acquisition of Mirador, which continue to showcase the company’s commitment to developing the private market’s leading-edge technology solutions.
“Distributed ledger technology serves and connects firms across the investing ecosystem, including fund managers, administrators, transfer agents, wealth managers, advisors, custodians, and tax providers, who each require timely, precise data to manage alternative investments on behalf of individual investors,” said Jason Broder, Chief Product Officer at iCapital. “iCapital’s DLT eliminates the need for each party to manage multiple integrations across partner firms, reconcile data and documents to their records, and maintain conflicting workflows across funds.”
About iCapital
iCapital powers the world’s alternative investment marketplace offering a complete suite of tools, end-to-end enterprise solutions, data management and distribution capabilities and an innovative operating system. iCapital is the trusted technology partner to independent financial advisors, wealth managers, and asset managers, offering unrivaled access, technology, and education to incorporate alternative assets into the core portfolio strategies for their clients.
At the forefront of the digital transformation in alternative investing, iCapital’s secure platform delivers a complete portfolio of management capabilities for education, transactions, data flows, analytics, and client support throughout the investment lifecycle. With $184.7 billion3 in global platform assets, the iCapital operating system automates and streamlines the complex process of private market investing and seamlessly integrates with clients’ existing infrastructure platform and tools.
iCapital employs more than 1,500 people globally, and has 17 offices worldwide including New York, Greenwich, Zurich, Lisbon, London, Hong Kong, Singapore, Tokyo, and Toronto. iCapital has consistently been recognized for its outstanding innovation, fintech industry leadership, and performance including Forbes Fintech 50 for 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024 and MMI/Barron’s Industry Awards as Solutions Provider of the Year for 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023.
For more information, visit https://icapital.com | X(Twitter): @icapitalnetwork | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/icapital-network-inc/
iCapital Disclosures
This material has been provided to you for informational purposes only by iCapital, Inc. and/or one of its affiliates including Institutional Capital Network, Inc. (collectively, “iCapital”). This material is the property of iCapital and may not be shared without its written permission. No part of this material may be reproduced in any form, or referred to in any other publication, without express written permission of iCapital. This is not intended as, and may not be relied on in any manner as, legal, tax or investment advice, a recommendation to employ a specific investment strategy, or as an offer to sell, a solicitation of an offer to purchase, or a recommendation of any interest in any fund or security. Security products and services are offered through iCapital Markets LLC (a registered broker/dealer, member FINRA and SIPC), Institutional CN (Europe) – Empresa de Investimento, S.A. (registered with CMVM), iCapital Hong Kong Limited (licensed by SFC) and iCapital SG Pte. Ltd (licensed by MAS), all affiliates of iCapital. Registrations and memberships in no way imply that FINRA, SIPC, CMVM, SFC or MAS have endorsed any of the entities, products or services discussed herein. Financial products made available by iCapital Markets LLC, Institutional CN (Europe) – Empresa de Investimento, S.A., iCapital Hong Kong Limited and iCapital SG Pte. Ltd. may be complex and/or speculative and are not suitable for all investors. iCapital Advisors, LLC is an investment adviser registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission and acts as an adviser to certain privately offered investment funds. “iCapital” and “iCapital Network” are registered trademarks of Institutional Capital Network, Inc.
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About UBS
UBS convenes the global ecosystem for investing, where people and ideas are connected and opportunities brought to life, and provides financial advice and solutions to wealthy, institutional and corporate clients worldwide, as well as to private clients in Switzerland. UBS offers investment solutions, products and impactful thought leadership, is the leading global wealth manager, provides large-scale and diversified asset management, focused investment banking capabilities, and personal and corporate banking services in Switzerland. The firm focuses on businesses that have a strong competitive position in their target markets, are capital efficient and have an attractive long-term structural growth or profitability outlook.
UBS is present in all major financial centers worldwide. It has offices in more than 50 regions and locations, with about 30% of its employees working in the Americas, 30% in Switzerland, 19% in the rest of Europe, the Middle East and Africa and 21% in Asia Pacific. UBS Group AG employs more than 72,000 people around the world. Its shares are listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).
1 iCapital, Inc., and its affiliates (together, “iCapital”) |
2 Assumes an average of 250 investors in a draw down private capital fund with 20 capital calls, 25 distributions, 45 cash reconciliations and 40 PCAPs over the lifetime of a fund, with three entities involved in the process of end-to-end fund management. |
3 As of March 31, 2024 |
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Contacts
For media inquiries:
For iCapital
+1 919 602 2806
icapital@neibartgroup.com
For UBS
Jonathan Humphreys
Media Relations
+1 201.352.6158
jonathan.humphreys@ubs.com