George Bagkalas brings over 18 years of experience in alternative investments in Europe and the U.S. to his role as partner in BDO fund services, with a focus on servicing asset managers across asset classes and a specialisation in private equity.
Current challenges faced by global asset managers
As global asset managers face more complex regulations, fund administrators must ensure consistency across countries while staying expert in local tax rules, accounting standards, and compliance details. Their role now goes beyond basic compliance, it’s about reducing execution risk in a fast-changing and complex environment.
George, points to market volatility and ongoing macroeconomic uncertainty, including the impact of geopolitical tensions and inflation, as factors impacting the decision process for asset managers. These dynamics are directly influencing asset allocation and intensifying pressure across the industry.
“What we’ve seen over the last years is a major challenge in fundraising across asset classes,” he says. “Fund managers are ‘locked in’ to high-valuation assets from the peak years, and in today’s environment, exiting at favorable prices is difficult. This creates liquidity pressure and slows down the capital recycling cycle, which is central to the private equity model”.
Still, George notes signs of improvement. “According to McKinsey’s global private market report, 2024 was the first time since 2015 that distributions to investors exceeded capital contributions,” he says. While fundraising remained slow, sentiment is shifting. “The market seems a bit more optimistic than it was two or three years ago.”
Across the board, global fund managers are under pressure “to do more with less and do it faster.” They face fee compression, mounting regulatory and ESG demands, the imperative to modernise technology, and the challenges of hybrid work, all of which are reshaping the way funds are administered and managed.
The shifting demands of LPs
Fund administrators are under growing pressure to deliver deeper insights to Limited Partners (LPs), who increasingly want to understand what influences market timing and how operational improvements create value.
“LPs today demand more than performance, they want transparency, accountability, and alignment”. George adds. “Real-time, detailed reporting tailored to their specific needs is becoming the norm, not a bonus. They expect to see real impact and measurable outcomes”.
He notes that fee sensitivity is growing, with investors pushing for more favourable economics, including co-investment rights and reduced management fees. Due diligence has become more rigorous, and larger LPs are leveraging their scale to secure bespoke mandates, separate accounts, and greater strategic influence.
Investors are no longer passive; they are strategic partners. For fund managers, the message is clear: adapt or fall behind.
Fund administrators as partners
For BDO, the role of the fund administrator is being quietly but fundamentally rewritten. What was once a back-office support function is now central to a fund’s operational and strategic success. Administrators are being embedded in execution, investor relations, regulatory readiness, and performance storytelling. They’re also being brought into transactions earlier to model waterfalls, validate allocations, and stress-test structures in real time.
Fund administrators are expected to act as business partners.
“The role is evolving fast,” says George. “Fund administrators have gone from bookkeepers to data hubs.” Today, they are expected to deliver real-time insights and serve as a single source of truth for both fund managers and investors. From onboarding and capital calls to direct investor support and tailored reporting, administrators are now actively supporting front-office activities as well.
They should be true business partners, supporting fund launches, leaner operations, and the full fund lifecycle. As George puts it, “Fund administrators are expected to act as business partners.” They should be driving the adoption of technology by offering API integration, automated workflows, and increasingly seamless connectivity with their systems.
Fund administrators are no longer behind the scenes. They are becoming drivers of performance, transparency, and trust.