Legal process outsourcing (LPO) — the practice of outsourcing legal processes to a specialized third-party provider — is reshaping how private fund managers handle repetitive, resource-intensive workflows. As global legal outsourcing gains traction, firms are finding new ways to reduce costs, scale flexibly, and accelerate critical operations like contract negotiations and inbound KYC requests.
Ontra is the leading provider of AI-powered solutions for private markets, and also provides some outsourced services, including reverse KYC. As part of its broader suite of solutions, Ontra supports private fund managers’ inbound KYC requests, helping them save time, reduce friction, and accelerate clearance.
Why do private fund managers outsource?
To control costs
The 2025 EY Law General Counsel survey found budget constraints are pushing GCs to implement cost-saving measures, including budgeting and forecasting, technology and automation, and legal process outsourcing. Fifty-five percent of departments said they intend to increase the use of LPO in the next 12 months, and 60% planned to increase the use of a Big Four organization or alternative legal service provider.
To scale efficiently
Internal resources struggle to manage fluctuating volumes of repetitive agreements like NDAs and reverse KYC requests from outside stakeholders. And that’s just the legal and compliance teams. Back-office functions and fund administration are also ripe for outsourcing and automation. Partnering with a top-tier outsourcing provider enables private markets firms to maintain control and quality while improving flexibility and costs.
To exceed LP expectations
Another factor mentioned in Private Fund CFO Insights Survey 2025 is LP preference. Sixty-one percent of respondents said they experienced an increase in LP interest in their back-office operating model in the past three years. One CFO mentioned that LPs may prefer outsourcing for an expert perspective or the “checks and balances” it can provide.
What are the benefits of legal outsourcing?
In simple terms, legal process outsourcing means hiring an external partner — such as a law firm or a specialized service provider — to manage recurring legal workflows like contract review, document preparation, or compliance checks.
For private equity firms, outsourcing repetitive legal processes can deliver major advantages:
- Significant cost savings by reducing reliance on high-cost internal or external counsel.
- Faster turnaround times on critical workflows, from NDA negotiation to due diligence.
- Scalability and flexibility to manage fluctuating workloads without compromising quality.
- Improved productivity and focus, freeing internal legal teams to handle strategic, high-impact work.
Outsourcing legal process management has evolved from a cost-cutting measure into a strategic necessity. Internal teams need the time available to focus on fundraising, identifying deal opportunities, and managing their firm’s AI transformation — just to name a few priorities.
Ontra’s legal process outsourcing services
Ontra is redefining legal services outsourcing by bringing together automation, private markets expertise, and flexibility. Ontra is the AI platform for private markets with a suite of solutions that automate critical negotiation, compliance, and governance workflows. Included in our solutions are outsourcing opportunities for contract negotiations and inbound KYC requests.
Contract Automation
Ontra’s Contract Automation solution streamlines the negotiation and execution of repetitive agreements. A global network of experienced legal professionals handles firms’ NDAs, non-reliance letters, vendor agreements, and other transactional contracts to reduce turnaround times, enhance accuracy, and capture valuable data insights.
Ontra’s contract negotiation solution includes:
- Digital Playbooks: Ontra legal network members rely on the firms’ standardized negotiation strategies for consistency and speed.
- Markup Builder: Network members accelerate redlining with AI-suggested markups, avoiding reviewing each contract from scratch.
- Similar Documents: Private markets firms and network members can rapidly search and leverage past agreements to benchmark and align new agreements based on precedent.
- Summaries: Firms leverage AI summaries of key contract terms for informed, confident decision-making and faster approvals.
- Reports: Firms track aggregated contract data to unlock negotiation trends and team performance insights for better decisions.
- Playbook Alignment Reports: Firms quickly reference reports to see adherence/deviation from the playbook at various stages of negotiation.
Reverse KYC
With Ontra’s new fully outsourced KYC service, fund managers gain access to dedicated experts who manage every inbound KYC request, leveraging technology and precedent materials to deliver high-quality, compliant submissions at speed.
Ontra’s end-to-end KYC services include:
- Dedicated KYC Analysts: Experienced professionals handle every step of the process — from document collection and questionnaire completion to counterparty correspondence and escalation management.
- Custom Playbooks: Ontra works with customers to build tailored playbooks that define data-sharing preferences, standardize responses, and indicate when to decline non-standard information requests.
- Centralized Knowledge Base: All KYC documentation and precedent responses are stored securely, ensuring consistency, accuracy, and rapid clearance for every request.
- Predictable Pricing: Each KYC request is managed at a transparent, per-request rate — enabling firms to maintain cost control and operational clarity.
By entrusting inbound KYC requests to Ontra, fund managers can accelerate transaction clearance, maintain compliance quality, and free internal teams to focus on strategic initiatives.
Learn more about Ontra
The key to successful legal outsourcing is finding the right provider. Most private markets firms need more than manpower — they’re looking for industry expertise, speed, and advanced technology. Ontra has over 10 years of experience supporting the private markets and is trusted by over 1,000 customers, including 9 of the 10 top ranked PEI firms globally.
Don’t take our word for it; read our customer stories today.
