Victoria Langley Asset managers can speed up dealmaking and potentially increase the number of closed deals this year by building an AI-driven tech stack.
Dealmaking is an arduous process, and manual methods for identifying deal signals, nurturing relationships, and executing contracts slow fund managers down. The consequences of these traditional workflows range from negative experiences for in-house lawyers and deal sourcing professionals to missed deal opportunities. In today’s competitive environment, none of these outcomes are acceptable.
Asset managers want to identify targets and close deals quickly, and the best way to be able to move fast is to invest in technology. Industry-specific tech solutions involving machine learning and other forms of AI can speed up deal sourcing, help dealmakers develop relationships with potential investors and targets, and get managers through the first deal stages quickly.
Ultimately, by identifying and completing deals faster, firms can move on to new opportunities sooner and increase the potential for more closed deals.
Speed up PE deals with these asset management tech solutions
1. Deal sourcing
While personal and professional connections contribute to PE deals, they’re inefficient for consistently sourcing the best opportunities. Instead, leading asset managers use technology to gather market data and quickly identify deal signals.
A deal sourcing or deal origination solution, like SourceScrub or Grata, enables managers to gather market data and surface potential targets based on the manager’s strategic preferences. These platforms often use natural language processing, machine learning, and other forms of AI to collect, categorize, and analyze market data; create lists and reports; and automate alerts and other tasks.
For dealmakers, a deal sourcing platform can improve their workload by:
- Reducing manual tasks
- Speeding up the market research process
- Tracking market trends
- Generating leads
- Minimizing guesswork
- Identifying warm introduction opportunities
- Confirming targets’ contact information
- Centralizing relevant data
- Tracking the deal pipeline in real-time
Ultimately, managers gain a competitive advantage by gathering as much information as possible before approaching a target.
2. Customer relationship management
CRM solutions work hand-in-hand with deal sourcing technology to enable managers to nurture prospect and investor relationships consistently. Some platforms offer a combination of deal origination and CRM features built specifically for private fund managers, while other CRMs offer more general features that many businesses can adopt.
CRMs like Salesforce, DealCloud, Backstop Solutions, Clienteer, and Satuit enable deal professionals to:
- Categorize and track relationships
- Sync, centralize, and view all communications
- Track the fundraising process
- Manage fundraising campaigns
- Automate the distribution of reports and other materials
- Generate reports
- Receive automated reminders
CRM platforms often incorporate AI. For example, ML enables platforms to gather and organize large volumes of unstructured data. Managers can run reports and pull business insights from the newly structured data, such as predictive lead scoring. Some CRM solutions include automated workflows, alerts, and communications.
Managers of all sizes benefit from AI CRM software. However, CRM can be particularly beneficial for smaller asset managers to identify and nurture relationships with a target earlier in the business’s lifecycle. Building relationships sooner rather than later gives the firm a competitive edge.
3. Contract automation
Once the deal sourcing and CRM solutions have enabled deal professionals to find the best opportunities, managers want to get through the NDA process quickly. Managers with a fast NDA turnaround time have an advantage in seeing materials before other firms.
NDAs in PE deals are high-volume, routine agreements. The parties must negotiate and execute NDAs to protect their confidential information, but these agreements shouldn’t be a sticking point. All parties want to execute the NDA efficiently and move forward in the deal process.
With the automation and contract outsourcing services available today, there’s no need for deal makers, in-house counsel, or outside law firms to waste hours or days on routine agreements. Managers no longer have to tolerate a time-consuming and costly NDA process.
Ontra offers Contract Automation for the private markets. A combination of AI-driven technology and a network of highly skilled transactional lawyers enables investment firms to execute routine contracts faster while freeing up their internal staff. It’s a complete solution for negotiating, executing, and managing contracts.
