This mandate win follows a series of successful acquisitions for Apex in the region, including Australia-based Mainstream Group, and New-Zealand-based MMC.

Perennial Private Ventures Fund is targeting a raise of AUS$200m to invest in high growth private businesses, providing “patient” capital in the years before a potential liquidity event. The Fund has secured cornerstone investment and attracted further interest from private wholesale investors, family offices and superannuation funds.

The launch of the Fund follows the success of Perennial’s three existing private to public fund strategies - also administered by Apex Group - which have invested in over 80 private companies, a third of which have transitioned to IPO or private takeover in the last five years.

Perennial has continued its existing relationship with Apex, appointing the Group to deliver Fund Administration and Transfer Agency services to the Private Ventures Fund. In addition to traditional Fund Administration services, Apex will also provide its high-quality, Custody Services as part of its independent, single-source solution. A recent Total Economic Impact (TEI) report by Forrester Consulting found that on average, clients of Apex Group’s single-source solution, achieved a return on investment of 105% and cost benefits of $5.39m, with a net present value of $2.75m over a three-year period.

Nick Bradford, Head of Business Development, Oceania, at Apex Group comments: “We are delighted to continue our relationship with Perennial as they launch their Private Ventures Fund. Apex’s robust suite of fund administration services will enable the Perennial team to focus on executing their investment strategy; delivering the attractive the returns of early-stage venture capital but with a faster route to liquidity and lower overall portfolio risk.”

Ryan Sohn, Portfolio Manager at Perennial Partners further adds: “We have been impressed by the Apex’s team’s versatility and value their ability to support our different types of fund structures and investment strategies. We have identified a rapidly expanding pipeline of growing private companies and Apex’s reliable services allow us to concentrate our time and resources on investing patient capital. As a longstanding Mainstream client, the transition to Apex Group has been seamless, and we now benefit from access to their efficient end-to-end solution including custody services, delivered by an experienced local team.”