Apex Group has expanded its partnership with i80 Group to provide loan administration and environmental, social and governance (ESG) ratings & advisory services, alongside its existing fund administration services.
The investment firm i80 Group provides clients with bespoke financing solutions that are designed to scale with a company’s growth plans while minimising dilution. Through the expanded mandate, Apex will provide i80 Group with a range of loan administration services to support these transactions from initial set up to maturity.
Apex’s loan administration service includes operational support to funds and vehicles that invest in a range of debt products. Its team will provide i80 group with solutions that give the firm’s team access to their portfolio views and oversight of their investments.
The fund services provider also said in a statement that its ESG ratings, reporting & advisory team will support i80 Group to accurately and consistently monitor and report on ESG matters to the business’ key stakeholders and investors.
Further, Apex’s software platform will allow i80 Group to collect ESG data from its portfolios in an efficient and usable format which can be benchmarked against international regulations and standards.
“As regulators begin to focus on enhanced ESG disclosures, forward-thinking managers such as i80 are embracing this opportunity to get ahead of the game and to ensure they can collect and analyse relevant ESG data, before the inevitable introduction of new regulation in the coming months and years,” said Georges Archibald, head of Americas at Apex Group.
“We look forward to continuing to work closely with the i80 team to meet their funds’ evolving needs and help them support growth with a leading business infrastructure.”
Apex’s ESG Advisory team will assist i80 Group in its commitment to identifying additional opportunities uncovered through portfolio specific ESG data.
“At i80, rather than offering a one-size-fits-all structure, we design bespoke financing solutions unique to our partner’s needs as their businesses rapidly scale – and the team at Apex clearly share this philosophy. Apex’s integrated loan administration and ESG services are particularly compelling, providing us with a clear picture of any financial and non-financial risks surrounding our portfolio,” said Warren Sckolnick, chief operating officer at i80 Group.
“We view ESG as a business enabler and proactively integrating oversight of these factors into internal operations and disclosures provides us with a clear advantage. We look forward to continuing this strategic partnership with Apex and benefiting further from their scalable solutions which allow us to focus on the job in hand of deploying capital most efficiently and impactfully.”
The mandate follows from the announcement in May this year that Apex Group was appointed by Federation Asset Management as the fund administrator, share registry and regulatory services provider of its new energy-transition investment fund.
Most recently, Apex Group was appointed as fund administrator by US-based commercial real estate investment company American Ventures Partners.
While the mandates continue to roll in, the biggest news for the fast-growing fund services group this month has been its proposed acquisition of Mainstream Group, which has gathered momentum after SS&C dropped out of the running to buy the Australian fund administrator.