Mastering the Art of Outsourcing: Fund Administration, Property Technology and Placement Agents
INTRODUCTION
Institutional real estate investment managers are increasingly leveraging outsourced service providers to optimize their fund operations. As investors continue to raise expectations for reporting, transparency and operational efficiency, outsourcing fund administration, investment technology (proptech) and placement agents have become strategic tools to enhance scalability, compliance and data-driven decision-making.
In this blog, we explore these key outsourced functions, highlighting their benefits, service providers and critical considerations for managers navigating the decision to outsource.
Alliance Global Advisors would like to thank Susan Gameiro of Juniper Square and Zander Geronimos of Proda.ai for providing their valuable insights from working in these types of fund services to support the content of this piece.
FUND-SPECIFIC OUTSOURCED SERVICES
FUND ADMINISTRATION
Fund administration has evolved into a critical function within real estate investment management, driven by increasing regulatory scrutiny and the growing complexity of fund structures. Third-party fund administrators provide specialized expertise in accounting, financial reporting, compliance and investor communications, allowing managers to focus on core investment activities.
As private markets managers face accelerating demands from investors for increased transparency and real-time data visibility, modernizing infrastructure, automating processes and enhancing data management are becoming necessities for managers to remain competitive.
Key Services Provided:
Accounting & Financial Reporting: Accurate NAV calculations, financial statements and regulatory filings
Investor Services: Onboarding, capital calls, distributions and investor communication
Regulatory Compliance: Support for SEC, AIFMD and other regulatory frameworks
Technology & Data Management: Automation, data aggregation and reporting platforms
Considerations for Managers:
Investor Experience: Does the administrator enhance transparency and responsiveness to LP inquiries?
Technology & Automation: Are reporting and data management processes streamlined?
Scalability: Can the administrator adapt to fund growth and evolving structures?
Cost Structure: Fees typically range from 5-15 basis points on committed capital, depending on fund complexity
Outsourcing fund administration is a strategic decision that depends on a manager’s internal capabilities, regulatory demands and investor expectations. As digital solutions advance, managers must assess whether a third-party provider aligns with their operational goals.
Q&A WITH JUNIPER SQUARE – FUND ADMINISTRATION
Susan Gameiro, Senior Director, Fund Administration
Q: How many funds has Juniper Square administered across how many Managers?
A: Juniper Square is uniquely positioned in the market. Our connected software and fund administration services support more than 2,100 General Partners, managing more than 600,000 unique investor accounts and over $1 trillion in investor equity. Within our fund administration business, we service over 350 clients that collectively manage about 2,200 fund entities.
Q: How does Juniper Square tailor its services for different fund structures?
A: We’re fortunate to work with clients across a large spectrum of private markets verticals and fund strategies, so we understand there’s no one size fits all. We partner with our clients, meeting them where they are on their journey to build a successful relationship. Some customers may need bespoke offerings to solve investor services shortfalls while others may need customized waterfall modeling assistance, and we see many looking for a complete fund administration suite. We work with clients to identify a model that works for all partners – and because our technology is the backbone of our service offering, we can deliver the combination of scalability and customization our clients expect.
Q: What do you believe are the key things that a manager needs to consider when determining outsourcing fund administration?
A: There are many considerations depending on where you are on the journey. Is this your first time outsourcing, are you adding a new fund administrator or are you changing a fund administrator? Common items to consider across all of those are the relationship and cultural fit of the fund administrator; data access, availability, cleanliness and standardization; and the internal positioning and communication at your own firm.
For those that are outsourcing for the first time, it is important to understand and set expectations for what services and technology items are in scope, and have a clear transition plan for the current in-house team so they understand how their jobs will be impacted. Review the current Investor agreements to ensure that expenses are in alignment, or will these be considered as part of the management company expenses. Additional items include the security, compliance and controls that are in place.
For those that are adding a new fund administrator – make sure they have the subject matter expertise required; there’s alignment on accounting data definitions; they deliver completeness and consistency of data; and that they have a forward-thinking technology strategy.
When changing administrators, considerations should include the requirements needed to be considered a successful administrator (what are the current pain points), access to data, contractual obligations of both parties and the continuity of books and records. The final thing to consider are the technological impacts that will come with the change in administrator and ensuring they deliver overall benefit, not new challenges.
PROPTECH
Property technology is transforming real estate investment management by integrating automation, data analytics and artificial intelligence to enhance decision-making and operational efficiency. Proptech solutions address critical pain points across the investment lifecycle from asset management to leasing and investor reporting.
The general rule of thumb for working with proptech companies is for real estate companies to think of them as partners in the sense that they will tailor their solutions and support to fit the needs of your business and work together to discover outcomes that have not been previously identified. This partnership and mutual discovery process is crucial for the selection and success of proptech solutions. Great proptech teams specialize their service to real estate value chain segments to deliver on enabling best-in-class operators with technology.
Key Services & Solutions:
Data Integration & Analytics: Platforms aggregate financial, operational and market data for better insights
Leasing & Asset Management: Tools streamline tenant management and leasing workflows
Investor & Portfolio Reporting: Digital dashboards enhance transparency and engagement
Property-type specific solutions: As there are over 15,000 proptech companies covering the variety of asset types, here are a handful of sector-specific solutions:
Multifamily: EliseAI, Get100, Padsplit
Office: VTS, HqO, Swift Connect
Industrial: Fyxt, PaintJet, Enertiv
Hospitality: Placemakr, Canary Technologies, Gravity Haus
Retail: Appear Here, Occupier.com, ever/body, Table 22
Single Family: Skipp, Showdigs, Revela
Affordable Housing: Pronto Housing
Storage: Cubby
Property-agnostic platforms are solving problems across asset types and in specific parts of the value chain. These include PRODA, which focuses on rent rolls, LightRFP, which focuses on vendor bids and Advocate, which focuses on insurance compliance for lenders.
This sample cross-section of asset type and value chain provides an insight into how real estate companies should examine potential proptech partners. The key process is to evaluate your asset focus, walk through the workflows of teams across the business to find gaps and then identify solutions that will fit. This process will happen continually as property types and markets evolve, so it’s good to build a flywheel of partnerships to incorporate the best-in-class solutions into your business.
Key Considerations for Partnering with PropTech:
Integration: Does the solution seamlessly connect with accounting, CRM and reporting systems?
Scalability: Can the technology grow with the portfolio’s size and complexity?
Security and Compliance: Are data security measures in place to protect sensitive Investor and financial data?
Customization: Does the platform offer tailored reporting and analytics solutions?
Funding: What is the runway of the company if it’s a start-up or if it’s a long-standing company? Is their business recession-proof?
Leadership: Are the company leaders guiding the business vision in line with the future of real estate?
Industry Knowledge: Do their teams for product, sales and support speak the language of real estate and understand the industry?
Investment managers who leverage strategic PropTech implementation can gain a competitive edge by improving operational efficiency, investor engagement and enhance data-driven decision-making.
Q&A WITH PRODA – PROPTECH
Zander Geronimos, Global Head of Business Development
Q: What are some of the various applications and uses of property technologies between the different property types?
A: Across property types, all the different applications refer to the variety of workflows and differences between the assets themselves. For instance, in office leasing, there are tools like VTS that specialize in that workflow versus tools like Funnel or Elise.ai that specialize in multifamily leasing.
In industrial, there are solutions that focus on rooftop solar and dock data management while in retail, there are clicks-to-bricks companies that take specialized brick-and-mortar short-term leases built off their digitally native presence.
Almost every activity and nuance of an asset has been enabled by various specialty technologies that were built out of the problems identified in their traditional and analog tool kit.
Q: Where is the starting point, or what are the steps to implementing property technologies efficiently and to their highest and best use?
A: Successful proptech adoption usually follows a clear roadmap, so here are the steps to implementing proptech solutions effectively:
Identify the core challenge, which could range from inconsistent data to broken communications
Initiate with a defined scope, such as one portfolio or property subset, to demonstrate value
Integrate seamlessly with existing systems – leveraging familiar tools such as Excel or outputs from property management systems – to reduce friction
Measure and communicate outcomes, highlighting time-savings and error-reduction to build internal support
Starting with precise goals and a streamlined approach helps investment managers quickly experience tangible benefits, setting the stage for broader adoption
Q: What are the benefits of properly implementing property technology solutions at the asset level?
A: The benefits you want to look for can be simplified into two main constructions: cost reduction or revenue generation with a direct impact on NOI that then drives the underwriting of a property’s cap rate. Keeping it to cost or value driver allows the user to quickly underwrite the potential ROI of using technology.
Examples can range from tenant retention, lowered energy costs, to percent of sales from ISPs in asset. If you understand the asset’s operations and potential, you can then attribute potential value to the use of proptech deployments.
Q: How do you see the benefits of property technology at the portfolio or fund level?
A: By following the principals of bifurcating cost versus revenue opportunities at the property level, you can apply these benefits as either an extrapolation across the portfolio and level or run the same analysis for portfolio-wide or fund-level tools, i.e. administration or reporting. The principals of cost versus revenue will hold true as you optimize operations with proptech.
Q: How is your firm providing proptech services across various property types?
A: PRODA applies its proptech solution across the variety of asset types, taking into consideration the differences in each.
Residential: Here, short-term, high-volume leases make quick processing of rent roll data essential. Effective proptech swiftly aggregates rent roll data to provide insights into occupancy, renewals and rent growth, facilitating streamlined investor updates.
Office: Office rent rolls frequently involve complex structures with multiple lease clauses and rent escalations. Advanced technology simplifies and standardizes this complexity, ensuring accurate and consistent data.
Alternatives (such as student housing, senior living, co-living): As investor interest grows in these specialized sectors, the need for precise, standardized rent roll data becomes more critical. Clean data enables effective benchmarking, accurate operational metrics and confident investment decisions.
PLACEMENT AGENTS
Placement agents play a key role in capital raising for private real estate funds, connecting managers with institutional investors through strategic fundraising initiatives. These firms help GPs navigate investor expectations, regulatory requirements and marketing efforts to secure commitments.
Key Functions of Placement Agents:
Fundraising Strategy & Execution: Structuring capital raises and identifying target investors
Investor Access: Providing direct access to institutional LPs, family offices and sovereign wealth funds
Marketing & Due Diligence Support: Assisting with investor materials, roadshows and ODD preparation
When to Engage a Placement Agent:
The manager lacks an established investor network
There is a need for specialized expertise in capital raising and fund structuring
The fund requires a broader LP base across diverse geographies or investor types
While placement agents provide valuable fundraising support, managers should evaluate fee structures, alignment of incentives and track records before engaging an agent.
Stay tuned for our upcoming addendum to this blog, where we will showcase a Q&A with Nancy Lashine of Park Madison Partners. We will explore the evolving role of placement agents in the real estate investment landscape, specifically providing guidance on how to best prepare for a placement agent meeting.
CONCLUSION
As real estate investment managers seek to optimize operations and meet rising investor expectations, outsourcing fund administration, proptech and placement agents offer scalable solutions for growth. The decision to outsource requires careful consideration of service providers, technology capabilities and cost structures.
Alliance Global Advisors supports managers in navigating these conversations by providing strategic insights and best practices for outsourcing fund services. By leveraging third-party expertise, managers can enhance operational efficiency, strengthen investor relations and position their firms for long-term success.
COMING SOON: MASTERING THE ART OF OUTSOURCING SERIES 3 – MARKETING SERVICES
Beyond organizational and property fund management services, real estate investment managers are increasingly turning to outsourced marketing operations to further optimize business practices and investment offerings. In Part 3 of our Outsourcing Services Series, we’ll explore marketing and communications outsourcing for investment managers including key considerations for PR, design, CRMs and other content providers. We’ll also share expert insights on what to consider when selecting outsourced partners, potential cost structures and how outsourcing can drive efficiency and scalability.
ABOUT ALLIANCE GLOBAL ADVISORS
Alliance Global Advisors is a women-owned consulting firm focused on empowering the institutional investment community to elevate best practices. Advising clients with over $970 billion in assets under management, Alliance partners with organizations to provide an independent perspective and innovative approach to critical strategic initiatives. Our partnerships allow senior management teams to focus on what matters most: diligently managing client capital, creating value and delivering exceptional returns in a performance-driven market.
Disclaimer: This blog was originally published in April 2025 and will be updated periodically to reflect changes in the industry. The content may contain or cite personal and/or professional opinions that differ from the views of Alliance Global Advisors.