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Apex Unitas – The execution specialist for private markets

08 November 2024

Neil Clark, Head of Apex Unitas and Apex Ventures Fund Services

The supply chain for listed stocks, mutual funds, and fixed income is standardised and digitised, but this is not the case for private markets investing. If you are a wealth manager or private bank that is interested in the potential of private markets investments for your clients but overwhelmed by the complexities involved, you are not alone.

Wealth managers and private banks use service providers and brokers for execution and custody of their listed stocks, mutual funds, and fixed income, yet when it comes to private markets, the assumption is they need to do it themselves. Historically, investing in private funds and companies has been a realm reserved for institutional investors, family offices, and highly sophisticated individual investors.

With evolving market conditions and growing investor interest, wealth managers and private banks are increasingly turning their attention to private market opportunities. Apex Unitas is the specialist execution broker for private markets, enabling our clients to confidently allocate, invest, and manage private markets investments.

Apex Unitas is an execution specialist, arranging transactions between buyers (wealth managers and private banks) and sellers (private equity and venture capital funds) including the translation of requirements between the parties.

The appeal of private investments

Private investments are a mature asset class, with decades of track record delivering strong returns and providing diversification from other asset classes, such as listed stock markets and fixed income.

Furthermore, the historical returns of listed stock markets were buoyed by the rapid growth of emerging industries and technologies. However, today’s private companies often remain private far longer than in the past, completing their rapid growth phase within the private markets before considering a public listing. This shift means investors broadly miss out on these high-growth phases if they need to wait for companies to list on the stock market.

Navigating the challenges of private investments

For wealth managers, the challenge is clear: how to efficiently invest, manage, administer, and provide transparent information to clients keen on private assets. The process has traditionally been solution-oriented, cumbersome, inconsistent, and often reliant on spreadsheets.

Questions abound:

  • For private company investments: Are share certificates accurate and up to date? Where are they stored? Are corporate actions received, tracked, and processed correctly? How are valuations determined? And, critically, how does a company maintain investor contact if an investor moves?
  • For private fund investments in private equity, venture capital, and private debt: Capital calls add another layer of complexity. These can be sudden, require immediate action, or risk default.

This is hard work, saps energy, and requires specialist expertise.

Apex Unitas: Simplifying private market investments.

Enter Apex Unitas, which is designed to address these very challenges. Apex Unitas empowers wealth and fund managers to allocate for their clients and invest in private funds and companies. With over a decade of experience and more than 50,000 investors relying on us, we’ve refined our approach to ensure simplicity and efficiency in managing private investments.

At the heart of Unitas is an FCA-regulated nominee, custody, and segregated managed accounts service. This means we securely hold client monies and assets on behalf of each investor, streamlining the management of numerous accounts with specialist expertise in private market assets. Our platform offers tailored reporting for each investor at the security level, delivering high-fidelity data and information. Data is made available to wealth managers and private banks for inclusion in their reporting to clients as part of their comprehensive wealth reports.

Addressing the complexities with ease

Apex Unitas tackles the most challenging aspects of private market investments head-on. Our platform facilitates investor aggregation to meet threshold minimums and manages capital calls efficiently. Funds can be held in Apex Unitas’ client accounts, ensuring they are available for capital calls without impacting the fund’s IRR. This provides fund managers and investors with the confidence that capital calls will be funded without additional involvement, mitigating the risk of default.

Discover the Apex Unitas difference

Are you ready to simplify your approach to private investments and leverage the opportunities available in the private markets? Apex Unitas is here to help. Our investment platform is designed to address the complexities of private market investments, offering a streamlined, efficient solution for wealth managers and investors alike.

If you’re interested in learning more about how Apex Unitas can transform your investment strategy, we’d be delighted to discuss how our platform can meet your needs and provide access to exciting private market opportunities.

Feel free to reach out to us—we look forward to connecting with you!

Disclaimer: This document is not intended to constitute legal or regulatory advice. Any client wishing to enter a relationship with Apex Unitas Limited should take its own independent legal, regulatory and taxation advice. This material (and the information contained herein) is not intended to constitute a financial promotion and is not intended to be investment advice.

Apex Unitas Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority FRN 591814.

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