The EU’s sustainability regulation is already making an impact outside its jurisdiction, writes Jake Safane.

ESG is widely embedded in the public markets, but it has been slower to gather momentum in private equity. However, pressure from investors and regulators is forcing the industry to change course. In response, a growing selection of service providers are stepping in to support private fund managers with their ESG challenges.

Innovation is flooding the global securities lending market with new FinTechs and agency lending firms launching services aimed at opening the practice to a wider range of firms. We look at the players making moves in this space.

The collaboration of custodians and FinTechs has evolved into investments and sometimes outright acquisitions, but what happens when these established and large institutions bring in the people, technology, and culture of a smaller, agile and innovative setup?

With the growth in popularity of special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs), what third-party support services are being sought after? Richard Schwartz investigates.

Service providers have touted the delivery of data analytics as something that can enhance alternative asset managers’ operations. But how are alternative investment firms and their service providers overcoming some of the challenges synonymous with data management? Asks Charles Gubert.

The disastrous entanglement with Archegos Capital Management and its spectacular collapse has left the prime brokerage industry reeling with over $10 billion in losses across the Street. The event has resulted in a major shift in attitudes around risk management, but how far-reaching will these changes be on their relationships with clients?

The most active M&A space in securities services is also one of the ripest for growth, while the fiercely competitive nature of the different players makes for an entertaining area of the market to observe.

State Street’s $3.5 billion acquisition of BBH’s Investor Services unit is a landmark moment in the custody industry and could also be the start of a wave of moves which could see more M&A activity amid an ongoing challenging environment of low margins and minimal revenue increases for some of the world’s largest banks.

COVID couldn’t stop the active to passive migration, but could new vehicles flip the script?

JP Morgan has spent the past few years replatforming its global alternatives investment services business. Now this project is complete, the bank is ready to make a statement.

All custodians have an ESG data and analytics offering now, equipped with a narrative about its importance for a better world. But how are custodians differentiating their service from their peers, can you win mandates based on these capabilities, and can the services be a revenue generator in its own right?

With assets under management in ETFs nearing $9 trillion, innovation has taken off with products focusing on everything from ESG to Bitcoin. A growing number of asset managers are also converting mutual funds into actively managed ETFs, and interest in non-transparent ETFs is beginning to rise following their introduction last year. How are service providers catering for this innovation and what are the pressing needs from providers to support these products?

Global Custodian goes under the hood of the Boston-based private bank to examine how it is seeking to retain business with existing clients, the challenges it faces from technology and regulation, and in the possibility that BBH does agree to sell the custody business, who could be in a position to strike a deal.

In the face of increasing regionalisation of sub-custody services, how are single market providers future-proofing their business? Following up on part one of our take on regional sub-custodians, Richard Schwartz investigates how single market providers are competing