As private markets expand across asset classes, investor segments and fund structures, administrators are having to rethink traditional operating models. Citco’s Allison Whaley and Tim Harvey sat down for a video interview with Funds Europe to share their insights.

 

Private markets are becoming harder to fit into traditional operating models. Hybrid structures are blurring the boundaries between open- and closed-ended funds, while managers are expanding into new asset classes, jurisdictions and investor segments.

For fund administrators, that means moving away from systems and processes designed around clearly defined asset-class “buckets”.

“There was always a focus on putting the asset classes into a box,” says Tim Harvey, head of private assets client service at Citco. “You had an operating model for private equity. There were certain systems and processes associated with that.”

But as funds become more hybrid in nature, Harvey argues that this approach becomes less effective. The assets held within funds are increasingly overlapping and the structures themselves are becoming more complex.

“The single system model certainly doesn’t work,” he says.

Data moves to the centre

Technology is an important part of responding to that complexity, but both Harvey and Allison Whaley, chief of staff, private markets at Citco, emphasise the importance of what technology allows managers to do with their data.

Managers increasingly want a consistent view across different asset classes, strategies and investor profiles. Whaley gives the example of a structure holding real assets, private equity and co-investments, where an administrator can add value by providing a clean and consistent set of data across the structure.

“The role of technology and automation for an administrator in this environment is less about making things faster or easier, and really about providing data to managers that they can use for insights,” she says.

Speed and automation are increasingly becoming baseline expectations. The greater opportunity, Whaley argues, is to give managers information that can support decision-making. The frequency with which that information is expected is also changing.

Harvey notes that fund administrators may previously have provided data quarterly or monthly, whereas expectations are increasingly moving towards daily or even intraday information.

“The only way you can use that data in a meaningful way is if it’s as near to real time,” he says. That has implications for the use of artificial intelligence. Harvey stresses that AI depends on the quality and governance of the information being used.

“AI only works when you’ve got good data,” he says. “You need to understand what that data is that you need. You need to have good governance around that data.”

Democratisation adds complexity

The broadening of the private markets investor base is creating further operational demands. Whaley points to more frequent subscriptions and redemptions and higher transaction volumes as examples of the complexity introduced by democratisation. Operating models are also becoming more interconnected.

“Firms need to scale their data across managers, across asset classes, across custodians, banks, jurisdictions,” she says. “The fact that operating models are now more connected means that you have to think about how the ecosystem comes together.”

Harvey adds that retail-style investors expect more regular transparency than has traditionally been associated with private markets. Delivering that, he says, requires a fully digitised, end-to-end process.

For private markets, where reporting historically operated on much longer cycles, he describes this as a significant change from the model of five or ten years ago.

AI plus human

Despite the growing focus on AI, Harvey does not see technology as removing the need for people. “Even when we think we can use AI to solve the problem, we still think it’s AI plus human,” he says.

AI may increasingly take on lower-level production or repetitive tasks, but Harvey argues that subject-matter expertise becomes more important because people still need to understand whether an AI-generated output is correct.

That may also require existing employees to develop different skills. The discussion around people also extends to outsourcing and “lift-out” arrangements, where operational staff and processes can move from an asset manager to an administrator.

Whaley sees potential benefits in transferring heavily manual processes to a service provider, giving managers greater capacity to concentrate on their core activities. However, she stresses that the way a lift-out is executed is critical.

“It’s not just whether to lift out or to not lift out. It’s really managing it,” she says.

Knowledge retention, continuity and avoiding disruption to investors all need to be considered.

Flexibility for what comes next

The challenge for administrators is not simply accommodating today’s structures. Harvey points to tokenisation, secondaries and continuation vehicles as examples of developments that may place further demands on operating models.

At the same time, Whaley notes that some of the largest managers are expanding into asset classes and jurisdictions that are new to them.

For service providers, the ability to adapt alongside those clients is therefore becoming increasingly important.

“You need to be able to adapt and that flexibility becomes key,” says Harvey.

Whaley similarly points to the need for administrators to support managers as they develop new products and operating models.

For private markets, the direction of travel is towards greater complexity, more connected operating models and rising expectations around data. The task for administrators will be to build systems, technology and expertise flexible enough to support that evolution.

The full video interview with Allison Whaley and Tim Harvey features views on hybrid fund structures, data and technology, AI, democratisation, lift-outs and the changing private markets operating model. It is now available to watch online, as part of the 2026 Inside Private Markets Video Interview Series in association with Citco.