IQ-EQ has completed the acquisition of Constellation Advisers, a US-based co-sourced and outsourced investment management services provider.
Constellation Advisers provides solutions to a range of traditional and alternative investment management firms including private equity, real estate, private credit, venture capital, hedge funds and family offices.
Its services include outsourcing of accounting, CFO and financial services, and outsourced COO services including middle office, operations and trade support mainly to the buy-side dealing with the public markets.
The acquisition marks IQ-EQ’s second in 12 months after it acquired Blue River Partners in 2020. The move also represents the latest in a string of acquisitions in the fund administration sector over the past few weeks.
At the end of December, Apex Group agreed to takeover GFin Corporate Services, a Mauritius–based fund administrator, while Alter Domus said it would buy Boston-based private equity and venture capital fund administrator IPS Fund Services.
Also, this week Sudrania Fund Services announced it would acquire the primary assets of Triple Leo Consulting, a Philadelphia-based fund administrator that specialises in crypto and digital assets fund administration.
For IQ-EQ, the Constellation Advisers will add 115 professionals located across six US offices in New York, Dallas, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago and North Carolina, significantly boosting its North American offering.
With immediate effect, Mark Fordyce, CEO of Blue River and IQ-EQ US Funds, will assume overall responsibility for the Group’s expanded US operations. Constellation Advisers co-founders, Boris Onefater and Greg Farrington, will assume the roles of chairman, global head of outsourced services and president and head of outsourced services, Americas, respectively.
IQ-EQ said it will retain the Constellation Advisers brand name in the short– to medium–term and will move to rebrand the business to IQ-EQ as part of its longer–term business strategy.