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S&P Global Collaborates with Cambridge Associates and Mercer

In a significant development for the private markets sector, S&P Global (NYSE: SPGI) has announced a strategic partnership with Cambridge Associates and Mercer to create a comprehensive private markets performance analytics platform. This initiative aims to address the existing data challenges faced by investors in private equity and venture capital, by providing an integrated, user-friendly solution to help them make informed investment decisions.

The Need for Improved Data Accessibility

The private markets have seen remarkable growth in recent years, with investors increasingly diversifying their portfolios to include private equity, debt, and other non-public investments. Despite this growth, many investors grapple with fragmented data sources, inconsistent reporting standards, and the complexity of performance analysis. These hurdles can lead to suboptimal investment choices and operational inefficiencies.

Recognizing these issues, S&P Global's President of Market Intelligence, Saugata Saha, articulates, "The private markets industry has experienced tremendous growth, but data fragmentation has made it challenging for investors to get a clear picture of performance. By combining S&P Global's trusted data and solutions with the research expertise of Mercer and Cambridge Associates, we aim to transform how private markets intelligence is created, shared, and utilized."

Launching Comprehensive Analytics By Year-End 2025

The collaborative effort aims to launch a beta version by the end of 2025. Utilizing S&P Global’s iLEVEL portfolio monitoring platform, the new analytics will provide clients with aggregated, anonymized insights on a range of metrics including global fund performance, fundraising activities, and deal analytics. This solution is expected to effectively create the most comprehensive private markets data ecosystem available in the industry today.

Key Features: Standardization and Enhanced Classification

Central to this partnership is the standardization of data collection and reporting. Both Cambridge Associates and Mercer will leverage the iLEVEL platform, which will help normalize fund performance data across various asset classes. Key features of the platform include:

• - Extraction and normalization of fund performance data across asset classes to provide comparative insights for limited partners.
• - Consistent comparison capabilities to aid in making more informed decisions for investors.
• - Reduced reporting complexity that simplifies the workload for general partners in managing their portfolios.

Moreover, an enhanced private market classification system will be implemented to more accurately categorize funds and investments according to current industry operations. This system will allow for a more detailed breakdown of funds, assets, and deals, thereby facilitating insightful comparisons and analysis of performance trends.

Remarks from Industry Leaders

Andrea Auerbach, Global Head of Private Investments at Cambridge Associates, emphasized the importance of this collaboration, stating, "The power in this collaboration is that it will provide investors with a one-stop shop for comparative private market intelligence, enabling more informed insights and decision-making. The timing is ideal as the private markets continue to evolve and grow increasingly complex."

On a similar note, Rob Ansari, Global Head of Analytics and Portfolio Solutions at Mercer, pointed out, "Private markets represent an opportunity to tap into many of the future growth drivers of the global economy. However, clients have long struggled with inconsistent reporting formats and fragmented data across private asset classes. Our standardized approach will cut down the administrative burden on both GPs and LPs, providing our clients with clearer insights to build more resilient and agile private markets portfolios."

Conclusion: A Commitment to Enhanced Solutions

This collaboration highlights S&P Global's commitment to expanding its suite of solutions tailored for the private markets industry, which includes offerings in private company data, valuations, risk analytics, and portfolio management services. For investors, this new platform represents a pivotal advancement in overcoming data challenges and unlocking enhanced performance insights.

For further information on S&P Global's private markets insights and offerings, please visit their official website.