Managing data efficiently imperative for organizations for long-term success and growth: Oxane Partners

Oxane Partners is a technology-driven solutions provider to the private markets industry. The solutions transform the way private markets investment firms and banks analyze and manage their investments.

Here, Vishal Soni, Co-founder and MD, Oxane Partners, tells us more. Excerpts from an interview:

DQ: Give us an overview of Oxane Partners, and its journey so far?

Vishal Soni: We are a technology-driven solution provider catering to the global private markets industry, a niche segment of the broader global financial markets. Private markets investments include private equity, private credit, real assets, venture capital, and other alternatives. Our core focus is centered around investment firms and global banks across the UK, Europe, and the USA.

With over a decade of investment experience working as a credit trader with Deutsche Bank London, I, along with my colleague, Sumit Gupta, with close to 16 years of investment banking experience, came up with an idea that stemmed from the first-hand challenges we faced during our investment careers. Together we conceptualized this idea into a venture in 2013, naming it Oxane Partners with a vision to simplify, digitalize, and transform the private markets industry.

Since then, we have never looked back as we have grown into a close-knit team of about 250 financial and technology enthusiasts. Over the years, we have developed a suite of tech platforms covering portfolio management across diverse asset classes. Currently, we are managing more than $300 billion in assets across 20 geographies globally.

DQ: What is Oxane Partners' offering, and how is it different from its competitors?

Vishal Soni: It is heartening to share with you that we have completed our 8-year milestone this month. Over these years, our service offerings have also evolved. Starting from just transaction advisory, we went on to add portfolio management technology, loan servicing, and independent valuations to become a full-suite solutions provider to the private markets.

We firmly believe that only the right combination of technology-empowered with domain experts can provide a comprehensive solution to overcome the data challenges and nuanced nature of multi-asset transactions faced by investment managers across the private investment landscape.

I think, this unique combination gives us a competitive edge in the market. At Oxane Partners, we provide the best of both worlds – first, best-in-class portfolio management technology; second, a dedicated team of domain experts who enable these platforms for ongoing support to our clientele.

DQ: Give us an overview of the evolving data management market in India?

Vishal Soni: We are at the prime of digitization. With the surge in digital adoption in the post-pandemic world, the amount of unstructured data is also increasing multi-fold. Managing this data efficiently has become an imperative for organizations for their long-term success and growth strategy.

It’s well established that the Indian IT industry has maintained a global footprint in the last three decades Whether it is cloud infrastructure, managed services, cutting-edge technology businesses, or the Indian government's digital initiatives, India is well-positioned to reap the benefits from its young talent pool, a rising economy, strong governance, and robust data security, attracting global investor attention.

Currently, India’s fintech ecosystem is brimming with opportunities and it is an exciting time for us being at the crossover of finance and technology, we provide a myriad of interesting career opportunities steeped in finance and technology for the country’s young and talented workforce.

DQ: Tell us about your network in India and the brand's footprint?

Vishal Soni: As we see, India is at the center of global attraction in terms of skilled workforce. It won’t be wrong to say that India is fast becoming the world’s knowledge powerhouse. We, at Oxane Partners, envision ourselves as a global company that is Indian at heart.

As a young and growing firm, with a sharp focus on finance and technology, we aspire to be the largest independent solutions provider for private markets globally. As of now, we have a major delivery center in Gurugram, India. To further capitalize on our growing capabilities, we’re expanding our reach in the south of India with a new office being set up in Hyderabad.

Having a global outlook, we have built a strong presence in the UK, and Europe, and are currently focusing on further penetrating the US market. India will always be important geography for us for tapping exceptional talent in the finance and technology domains to continue to support our growth trajectory.

DQ: What are Oxane Partners' long-term goals? What are your visions for the brand?

Vishal Soni: After having successfully established our foothold in the UK and continental Europe, we are now witnessing strong growth in the US and we are now committed to building upon the growth momentum even further

We aim to be the largest independent solutions provider for private markets globally and see ourselves as a one-stop shop for investment managers and investment banks across the globe. As we grow further, we want to constantly evolve to be the pioneers in moving the industry forward.

Given our fast growth trajectory, we need to mirror our talent requirements with our growing client base. For this reason, we have a lot of focus on attracting, hiring, training, and enabling the right talent

We started with the vision to simplify the complexities in private market investments through digitalization and it is heartening to see it turning into reality and transforming the way the industry works. Our laser-sharp focus on the private markets and our emphasis on integrating domain expertise and proprietary technology allow us to offer a truly compelling solution. We will continue to enable private markets to embrace change and be better prepared for the future.

Moreover, we are passionate about solving the complex data challenges in the private markets space and strengthening the tech ecosystem by bridging the technology gap between private markets and public markets (i.e., capital markets). Having extensive exposure in the private markets space gives us the confidence to become the largest independent solutions provider supporting throughout the deal lifecycle.

DQ: How has the brand navigated through the pandemic? And post-pandemic, how has the brand changed its communication approach?

Vishal Soni: In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, a new wave of digitalization emerged across the private markets’ horizon. As part of investment firms’ preparation in the post-pandemic world, on-the-go and always-on access to data, systems and collaborative tools became more mainstream than ever to ensure smoother investment operations.

Dealing with the uncertainties posed by the pandemic, we stayed committed to helping our clients navigate through these turbulent times. The pandemic has only made our resolve even stronger to serve the global private markets in creating more awareness about the urgent need for digitalization to drive efficiencies and scaling up with agility. In fact, in the last two years, we have onboarded many bulge bracket clients across our solutions and services.

Following the pandemic, our approach to client communications has become even more engaging. We quickly adjusted to the remote working environment and recognized the broader investment ecosystem as firms grappled with the operational gaps in their investment workflows and realized the need to be agile by leveraging cloud, mobile and digital workflows. With the renewed emphasis on the need to have a robust investment management technology in place, we reinforced our strong digital capabilities helping investment managers in their digital transformation journeys.

DQ: What are the omnichannel strategies the brand has adopted to reach out to customers/businesses?

Vishal Soni: Being a tech-driven solution provider, we deploy multiple strategies to reach out to our target businesses. While we interact with stakeholders at various industry events, conferences, or roadshows, our single most successful strategy has been to deliver top-notch solutions to our clients. That in turn has helped our brand earn more prominence in the industry leveraging on the strong network effect.

DQ: What are your plans for expansion? What are the top priorities for 2022?

Vishal Soni: While we aim to continue our incredible growth in the UK and continental Europe, we are seeing strong indications for the US market. In the US, we've onboarded a number of bulge-bracket clients. In 2022, our focus is to establish a strong foundation in the US so that we can build up on our capabilities to cater to the vast US private markets industry at scale.

With $300+ billion assets under management currently, we believe we have a long way to cover a sizable chunk of the market and we are well on our path with our focus on covering the private markets industry in the US, especially the investment banks.

More importantly, one of our main objectives for 2022 is to highlight our culture and the talented pool of individuals who are propelling our growth forward.

DQ: How has the market transitioned in your line of business?

Vishal Soni: As more and more investors seek diversity and higher returns, demand for private market assets has surged considerably in recent years. While the Covid-19 pandemic pressed the snooze button for a couple of quarters, the market has picked up really fast and many investors are increasingly interested in private equity, private credit, and infrastructure investments, among others.

With the covid tailwinds receding, there are permanent lessons to be learnt. There are emerging themes that are common across industries and the private markets industry is no exception to it. Investment managers will need to respond by looking at how to apply an ESG lens to their investment strategies. Whether it is net-zero commitments or building a strong commitment to diversity and inclusion at the organization level, these matters are no longer an overlay, rather, these are crucial consideration points for the decision-making bodies in every space. And, we’re seeing them as strong topical points in our industry too.

DQ: What kind of challenges do you face in your businesses, while stepping up in the industry?

Vishal Soni: The private markets industry faces some of the most complex data challenges as it is at least 10 years behind capital markets in terms of technology. With the explosion of data across the board, investment volumes are expanding as well, with fast-emerging new asset classes, tackling the rising cost pressures, and regulatory demands.

The most critical challenge we face is the diverse nature of investments across the private markets’ spectrum. There is no cookie-cutter approach to providing any standard solution to clients as every client has a different requirement. Having understood the bespoke nature of service delivery, we are providing customized solutions to our clients that suit their exact requirements.

Moreover, we operate in an exciting field where finance and technology advancement converge. We're a place where brilliant minds come together to solve investment firms' most difficult challenges by combining strong asset class experience with in-house technological platforms, all while maintaining an entrepreneurial mindset and a relentless pursuit of innovation. We are incredibly responsive, and we enjoy designing solutions that adapt to our customers' ecosystems in whichever way they choose, whether piecemeal or end-to-end. We always go the extra mile, constantly seek feedback, and evolve our solutions to deliver better solutions every single time.