Raising Capital in Private Markets: Guernsey’s Evolving Fund Framework

With Guernsey Finance’s Funds Forum this month looking at the future direction of fund structuring options, Mariana Enevoldsen, Senior Client Services Director – Fund Services at JTC, discusses the challenges asset managers continue to face in terms of raising capital in private markets and explores why Guernsey’s regulatory framework is geared up to support the next generation of managers…

The global fundraising environment has entered a markedly different phase. For asset managers, particularly in private markets, raising capital is no longer simply about performance and access to institutional networks.  

Instead, it is increasingly defined by geopolitics, prolonged uncertainty, structural shifts in investor behaviour and the accelerating evolution of fund structuring options and asset classes. 

There is no doubt. The market is far more complex than it was even just a few years ago.   

Yet that complexity is also driving innovation. Managers are rethinking how they structure products, engage a more diverse demographic of investors and operate funds – and jurisdictions such as Guernsey are evolving to support that future transformation. 

The Private Markets Fundraising Challenge: What Asset Managers Are Up Against

The challenges we have seen emerge for managers over recent years have not been about a lack of capital globally. Significant dry powder remains in the system. Rather, the issue is that investors have become more selective and more cautious. 

Institutional allocators are grappling with a combination of geopolitical fragmentation, high interest rates, slower exit activity and persistent macroeconomic volatility. The result has been longer private markets fundraising cycles – often taking up to 18 months to secure cornerstone investors – greater concentration of capital towards established managers with proven track records, increased scrutiny around governance and liquidity management and greater caution when it comes to committing capital. 

At the same time, investor behaviour itself is changing. Limited partners (LPs) increasingly want optionality and customisation. Co-investments, separately managed accounts, continuation vehicles, single asset vehicles and evergreen structures are becoming more prominent as investors seek greater control over fees, liquidity and portfolio exposure.  

This is particularly significant amongst family offices and private investors who are exploring the private markets and expect a more digital, transparent and flexible investment experience. 

That changing landscape is placing a greater strategic role on fund administrators, who are no longer seen through an operational lens but are increasingly acting as partners that help managers navigate private markets fundraising complexity, tax considerations across different domiciles, regulatory evolution, bespoke reporting requirements and investor expectations. 

The focus is on operational resilience, which has become a key differentiator for managers looking to fundraise – particularly, as we have seen at JTC, in supporting emerging and start-up managers. Large fund houses are not immune though – investors want confidence that they can deliver sophisticated reporting, have a robust valuation policy, can manage complex structures and maintain strong governance across multiple jurisdictions and asset classes. 

With investors wanting to undertake more due diligence around these issues, managers are in turn being put under greater costs pressure as they invest more time to meet investor demands, further squeezing their margins and having a knock-on effect all the way along a fund’s supply chain. 

This is placing an emphasis on technology and integrated, consistent systems at an administrator level, in particular in the efficient and secure management of data. Digital investor portals, automated reporting systems and AI-enabled data management are becoming increasingly important in supporting faster, more transparent and cost-effective investor communications. 

Raising Capital in Private Markets: Evolving Asset Classes and Fund Structuring Options

The rise of digital assets and tokenisation is reshaping private markets infrastructure too. Tokenised fund structures have the potential to improve operational efficiency, broaden investor access and enhance transferability in traditionally illiquid asset classes.  

Guernsey is actively positioning itself within this evolution through reforms relating to tokenisation, digital custody and stablecoin-enabled settlement. There is an opportunity for administrators here, who have a central role to play in helping managers build future-ready frameworks capable of attracting next-generation investors. 

The evolution of sustainable and green finance presents a similar dynamic. Investor appetite for sustainable investment remains strong – but the market has matured significantly, with investors no longer satisfied with broad ESG narratives alone. Increasingly they expect measurable outcomes, verifiable reporting and protection against greenwashing risks. 

This has also elevated the importance of administrators in collecting, validating and producing ESG reporting for funds, particularly as sustainability regulation becomes more granular globally and as disclosure obligations evolve.

Guernsey Fund Administration: Why the Jurisdiction Supports the Next Generation of Managers

Against this backdrop, Guernsey’s reputation as a jurisdiction that can support the next generation of managers has become particularly relevant. 

One of Guernsey’s enduring strengths is its ability to combine regulatory credibility with commercial pragmatism, which sits at the heart of effective Guernsey fund administration. That balance is increasingly valuable in an environment where managers need to balance speed-to-market with investor confidence. 

Importantly, Guernsey has shown a willingness to evolve alongside market demand, supporting innovation in areas such as private investment funds, co-investment structures, venture capital vehicles, digital finance and tokenisation, all while maintaining supervisory integrity, backed up by an ecosystem of experienced and knowledgeable people. 

In sustainable finance too Guernsey has focused on pragmatic oversight and anti-greenwashing standards, including its green fund and natural capital fund regimes, without overburdening managers with excessive bureaucracy, making ESG reporting for funds more manageable.   

The flexibility and optionality built into Guernsey’s framework is important too. The jurisdiction’s breadth of fund regimes, combined with deep professional expertise across legal, administration, governance and regulatory services, is well set up to enable the next generation of managers to structure products that align more closely with evolving expectations. 

In this new era of asset management, operational sophistication, transparency, structuring flexibility and technological readiness are absolutely critical in supporting successful fundraising. For Guernsey, this represents an opportunity to reinforce its position as a forward-looking international finance centre capable of supporting the next generation of private capital structures.