BNY Mellon Announces Automated 'Waterfall' Process for Private Equity Fund Administration

NEW YORK and LONDON, Sept. 23, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- BNY Mellon, the global leader in investment management and investment services, has announced the launch of an enhanced distribution 'waterfall' capability as part of its private equity fund services.

Distribution waterfalls in a private equity fund establish how proceeds from realized investments will be divided between investors and the fund manager. It's also through the distribution waterfall that fund managers and principals receive their performance and incentive fees, or 'carried interest.' 

Waterfall calculations, which are governed by the language found in Limited Partnership Agreements, are one of the most complex aspects of servicing private equity funds. Today, most private equity firms and fund administrators rely on labor-intensive manual methods to calculate and report distribution proceeds.

"This major new offering marks the beginning of the end of spreadsheet calculations for private equity funds," said Alan Flanagan, global head of product management for alternative investment services at BNY Mellon. "Our automated and integrated waterfall solution brings the benefits of a more efficient, controlled environment, and that means improved risk management and more transparent reporting for investors and fund managers alike."

The enhanced capability, which leverages CapAssure^® from Investors Economic Assurance LLC, captures the intricate algorithms and parameters used to calculate a private equity fund's distributions. The service is fully integrated with BNY Mellon's private equity accounting platform, which facilitates distribution processing and hypothetical liquidation modeling. BNY Mellon clients who opt for the service will also receive more detailed reporting with the new waterfall capability.

BNY Mellon services over $160 billion in private equity assets. The company is a leading administrator of alternative assets, including single manager hedge funds, funds of hedge funds and private equity, with more than $600 billion of alternative assets under administration and/or custody and offices worldwide. BNY Mellon also offers a wide range of cash management, foreign exchange, collateral management, corporate trust, and wealth management services to the alternative investments industry.

BNY Mellon is a global investments company dedicated to helping its clients manage and service their financial assets throughout the investment lifecycle. Whether providing financial services for institutions, corporations or individual investors, BNY Mellon delivers informed investment management and investment services in 35 countries and more than 100 markets. As of June 30, 2013, BNY Mellon had $26.2 trillion in assets under custody and/or administration, and $1.4 trillion in assets under management. BNY Mellon can act as a single point of contact for clients looking to create, trade, hold, manage, service, distribute or restructure investments. BNY Mellon is the corporate brand of The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation (NYSE: BK). Learn more at www.bnymellon.com, or follow us on Twitter @BNYMellon.

SOURCE BNY Mellon