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New Delhi (India), April 18:PE Front Office, established in Gurugram in 2013 by Anup Kumar Adlakha and Ankur Agarwal, is a B2B SaaS solution provider that caters to the Alternative Investment Management industry. With 100 plus customers in over 15 countries, PE Front Office offers state-of-the-art solutions to address the most dynamic challenges that Alternative Investment managers face across processes such as Deal Flow, Fundraising, Investment Management, Portfolio Monitoring, Investor Management, and Fund Administration.

We talked to the Co-FounderAnkur Agarwal, who shared his insights about the alternative investment management industry, how technology can speed up processes, and how does the future look like with the latest technology trends.

What inspired you to create a platform for the Alternative Investment Management Sector?

In 2013, when Anup and I were working in a private equity firm in the UK, we noticed a huge gap in the software space catering to the Alternative Investment Industry. We realized that technology was at best being utilized to manage the Back-office operations, while the Front and Middle-office operations were managed largely with a manual approach using traditional tools like Excel or in-house developed solutions. We realized that this was because there was no convenient and efficient technological solution that could provide a great customer experience without committing huge resources of time and money.

To address this issue, we decided to use our expertise in technology and industry experience to develop a SaaS solution for the Alternative Investment industry. The solution was envisaged in such a way that it could be implemented within a short span of time and with a pay-as-you-go model so that it becomes easy for Alternative Investment Management firms to implement. As a result, in February 2013, we launched PE Front Office with its headquarters in Gurugram.

How to do the front office and middle office functions in a Private Equity Firm? Can you elucidate in simple terms for the layman?

While the definition of Front and Middle Office operations may slightly differ from firm to firm, in general, the Front Office operations entail:

Deal Flow i.e., management of potential investment opportunities and deal due-diligence operations.

Fundraising i.e., management of potential Investors and Investor Onboarding & KYC operations.

The Middle Office operations, on the other hand, encompass:

Investment Management i.e., management of investment cashflows and valuations and tracking of investment performance.

Portfolio Monitoring i.e., tracking of Financials/KPIs and ESG data of portfolio companies.

Investor Management i.e., management of investor relationships, drawdown/distribution operations, and reporting to investors.

Since Private Equity, Venture Capital, and other Alternative Investment Management firms required a tailored solution to meet their unique requirements, they were not quick to incorporate technology into their operations beyond the back office. Hence, the cloud-based PE Front Office solution was created to meet these specific requirements.

How have you customized your offerings to align with the needs of your customers?

Customized solutions are necessary to manage the distinct requirements of each market segment within the Alternative Investment Management industry. We love talking to our customers and keep gathering insights and feedback on various things. Today we can proudly say that who so ever takes a demo of our software very distinctly says that 90-95% of their requirements are already baked in our base version. We have been able to reach this stage because PE Front Office is easy to customize and adapt as per the need of the customer.

We initially concentrated on the Private Equity and Venture Capital market segments. However, with time, we started examining the requirements of other segments, such as Private Credit/Debt, Fund of Funds, and Family Offices and started developing solutions for them. For example, we customized our solution to meet the requirements of the Fund of Funds segment wherein theres a need to track the whole Fund of Funds ecosystem that includes investments made across Investee Companies as well as Investee Funds. Further, we upgraded our solution to meet the complex requirements of Private Credit/Debt Funds wherein an important task is to track Amortization Schedules with multiple debt scenarios. We also tailored our solution to incorporate dynamic requirements such as Hedging and Revenue-based financing model. Additionally, when it comes to reporting, the size fits all approach doesnt work. Hence, we began offering customized reports to meet the specific reporting requirements of each customer.

How have you grown as a company over the last ten years?

PE Front Officehas evolved strongly over the past decade. While our base version was aimed at addressing the common pain points of Private Equity and Venture Capital firms only, our latest version addresses the most dynamic challenges of the Alternative Investment Management industry and boasts brand new UX, role-based User Interfaces, Plug-ins, and Mobile Apps.

PE Front Office has expanded its base across different market segments such as Private Equity, Venture Capital, Private Credit/Debt, Fund of Funds, Limited Partners, Family Offices, and Fund Admins.

In specific terms, today, we are present in 15 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, South Africa, Singapore, and Hong Kong, and offer services to over 100 customers. Of course, this is just the beginning, and we have miles to go before we can say weve met our goals.

What differentiates PE Front Office from other solutions available in the market?

PE Front Office offers a comprehensive suite of solutions that encompass all facets of the Alternative Investment lifecycle, including Deal Flow, Fundraising, Investment Management, Portfolio Monitoring, Investor Management, Investor Portal, and Fund Administration. The software has integrated plugins for Gmail and Outlook, facilitating communication with investors.

The PE Front Office solution is designed to enable Alternative Investment funds to analyze large volumes of data on investee companies to make informed decisions. At every stage of the investment lifecycle, the solution ensures a smooth and secure workflow, resulting in improved operational efficiency and better data quality for sound decision-making.

Our USP is our agile approach which enables us to focus on milestone-based project delivery resulting in one of the shortest implementation cycles in the industry. At PE Front Office, we give utmost importance to correctly understanding customer requirements as well as feedback from product demos and ensure that the same is incorporated into the solution. Additionally, our flexible framework allows for quick and inexpensive customizations. We aim to continually enhance our offerings to provide intelligent, personalized solutions to our clients.

What is your vision for the future?

In a technology-driven world, it is crucial for the Alternative Investment Management industry to adapt quickly and leverage available solutions to gain a competitive edge. We have completed an amazing decade, and we are ready for more. We hope to conquer new territories and add to our growing base of satisfied customers. We expect to stay ahead of the curve, adapt and reinvent our solution depending on the needs of the dynamic business landscape we operate in, and offer cutting-edge software solutions for our clients.

If you have any objection to this press release content, kindly contact pr.error.rectification[at]gmail.com to notify us. We will respond and rectify the situation in the next 24 hours.

Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor.

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PE Front Office A software solution that can power your Alternative Investment Fund ahead - Free Press Journal

One CRM best practice is to create smart automations. Tapping into the efficiencies possible through CRM automation helps you harness your CRMs full power. Knowing what to automate can save your team time, reduce sales costs and ensure that important tasks do not fall through the cracks.

Content delivery is a prime function where you might create some automations in your CRM. For example, when a new lead is entered into your CRM, you might direct that lead to an automatic email welcome sequence or product-specific nurture email series.

You can use CRM automations to refine project workflows, reach out to unengaged contacts and keep customers updated on project progress. Lead scoring, sales forecasting, proposal management and process workflows can all be automated.

Automations can also be used to alert you to CRM metrics that matter most to you, such as buying patterns, sales team performance, conversion rates and performance patterns that might otherwise go unnoticed.

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10 CRM Best Practices In 2023 Forbes Advisor - Forbes

Samsung News is a new medium to discover news on Galaxy devices. It is yet another attempt from the company to take on Google Discover on the home screen of its devices.

In an announcement blog post (opens in new tab), the company stated that Samsung News, which is launching in beta in the U.S., will present consumers with news from trusted news sources involving major outlets like Bloomberg Media, CNN, and Fox News, among others. The rollout is for select Galaxy phones for a start, and while the company did not state which devices will receive it first, we can expect the Galaxy S23 series to be among them.

We created Samsung News to deliver breaking and premium news to Galaxy users in an easy to access format. Our goal is to support users by letting them curate their ideal news experience, said Avner Ronen, VP of Product Development at Samsung Electronics.

The added feature redesigns the Samsung Free app, which is accessible from the home screen. Technically speaking, this is a second redesign because it was previously Bixby Home and Samsung Daily.

For those unaware, Samsung Free debuted with One UI 3, based on Android 11. It allowed users to watch Live TV, and free channels, listen to podcasts from top publishers, check on the news through video and text, and play instant games. The latest revamp, however, makes it more convenient by segregating them into fewer sections and primarily focusing on the news segment.

Samsung News will offer consumers the following three easy ways to find news within the app:

As mentioned, Samsung News is launching the beta, replacing the current Samsung Free application from the Galaxy Store. And, for those who have the Samsung Free (opens in new tab) preinstalled on their Galaxy phones, the new Samsung News icon will replace the current one starting April 18.

Many Galaxy device holders are deeply invested in Googles Discover from the start, which is also a default news aggregator in many Android phones. Samsung Free is also an easily accessible option for many. However, those that don't have Samsung Free on their devices will be able to head to the Galaxy Store to download the Samsung News app and make it their default news aggregator.

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Samsung News is the new Google Discover alternative for Galaxy ... - Android Central

All short-term vacation rentals in unincorporated parts of Hamilton County must now receive annual inspections to obtain a certificate to operate.

After enacting a six-month pause on new permits as they refined their guidelines, county commissioners officially approved an update to Hamilton County's short-term vacation rental rules in a 8-3 vote Wednesday.

Commissioners Steve Highlander, R-Ooltewah, and Ken Smith, R-Hixson, voted against the measure. Commissioner Warren Mackey, D-Lake Vista, opted to pass, meaning his vote will count as a no.

Commissioner Joe Graham, R-Lookout Valley, who worked alongside Commissioner Gene-o Shipley, R-Soddy-Daisy, to craft the new guidelines, said rentals in Hamilton County have been largely unregulated up to now and were not previously receiving inspections as part of the approval process.

"We're hoping to put enough rules and regulations in place that it addresses, hopefully, all of the neighbors' concerns parking, dogs, loud music, fireworks, all those different things," Graham said during the meeting Wednesday.

Commissioners also denied an amendment suggested by Highlander that would have created a process for neighbors to object to short-term vacation rentals cropping up in their community.

"Homes are the largest investment that most people ever make in their lives," Highlander told his colleagues. "I think they should have some say-so."

Under Highlander's proposal, property owners seeking a certificate from Hamilton County would have been required to place a sign outside their yard for 30 days notifying neighbors of their intent to turn the residence into a vacation rental.

The amendment failed in a 7-4 vote with commissioners Highlander, Shipley, Smith and Chairman Chip Baker, R-Signal Mountain, voting in favor of it.

(READ MORE: Property owners form group to oppose Chattanooga's proposed vacation rental rules)

"I will always support more transparency to my constituents in knowing what's going on around in their neighborhood, especially on issues that are very concerning to many that I have received phone calls from," Smith told his colleagues, explaining his support for the amendment.

New zoning rules the commission approved Wednesday will allow vacation rentals in all zones except manufacturing districts. Under prior guidelines, the county banned rentals in its low-density residential district. Smith, who voted against the update, said he opposes allowing vacation rentals in the low-density zones, which he said has been consistently shared by his constituents.

"I've not had a single constituent in my district calling me asking me to please allow short-term vacation rentals in their neighborhood," he said, "but I have had countless contacting me asking me not to allow them."

Under the new rules, Hamilton County will require property owners in unincorporated areas to pay an annual fee of $750 to receive a certificate for a short-term vacation rental, which includes $250 for an inspection.

The units will require signoff from the county's building inspection department, the fire marshal, and if the residence has a septic system, the groundwater department.

There will also be a limit on the number of people allowed to stay at the property, which will be calculated based on the number of bedrooms, and there must be enough spaces at the residence to ensure visitors won't take up on-street parking in the surrounding neighborhood.

In order to crack down on unpermitted units, the county plans to hire a company called Granicus that will scour the internet to find vacation rentals operating illegally. Those services will cost about $8,000 to $9,000 a year. The city of Chattanooga is already using the same software to identify unpermitted rentals.

Hamilton County has approximately 30 permitted short-term vacation rentals operating in unincorporated areas, but officials estimate there are at least another 75 operating illegally.

(READ MORE: New vacation rental rules in the works after failure at Chattanooga City Council)

County resident Colleen Kirk stood up during public comment Wednesday to raise several issues with the new regulations and the process by which they were approved, saying she would rather see vacation rentals restricted from operating in certain residential zones.

"The new rules remove any ability ... for the community and neighborhood to have a say of what's coming into their neighborhood," Kirk said in an interview, adding that she has safety concerns about the properties.

The rules approved Wednesday resulted from a months-long planning process that incorporated feedback from multiple residents and owners, Graham has said, adding that they set a foundation for the county going forward and can be adjusted as needed.

"The main goal that we tried to do here is get something started and get something started that hopefully we can build upon," he said during the meeting. "Did we hit it exactly right straight out of the gate? I doubt it, but we tried. We tried really hard."

Contact David Floyd at dfloyd@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6249.

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Hamilton County bolsters regulations for short-term vacation rentals ... - Chattanooga Times Free Press

SECRETARY OF DEFENSE LLOYD J. AUSTIN III: Well, Secretary Galvez, it's great to see you again so soon after my trip to Manila in February and it is a pleasure to host you at the Pentagon. So thanks for taking the time to meet again after a very productive Two Plus Two ministerial dialogue yesterday.

And as I've said yesterday, this is an historic moment for our lives. As we take critical steps together to deepen our ties and strengthen peace and stability in the region. We share a vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific. One grounded in transparency, freedom of navigation, the rule of law, respect for sovereignty and the peaceful resolution of disputes.

Now those principles have faced growing challenges lately. We've seen a troubling increase in coercion and dangerous operational behavior, including in the South China Sea. And we remain deeply committed to our alliance obligations.

And as we've made abundantly clear, the mutual defense treaty applies to armed attacks on either of our armed forces, our public vessels or aircraft anywhere in the South China Sea.

Now I'm proud of the rapid strides that we've made to modernize our alliance, Mr. Secretary. We've made important progress to bolstering the capabilities and capacities of our armed forces to resist coercion and gray zone aggression.

And we're close to finalizing a security sector assistance roadmap that charts a path forward to strengthen deterrence and align our defense investments with the evolving security environment.

And as we discuss yesterday, we're also expanding our cooperation under the enhance defense cooperation agreement, which will make our armed forces more flexible and more resilient. And support our ability to train and operate together.

And we're very pleased to have announced the locations of these four new sites recently. And finally, I want to affirm our commitment to strengthening interoperability across all domains, including space and cyberspace.

So Mr. Secretary, thanks again for being here. And I look forward to a great discussion. Over to you, sir.

CARLITO GALVEZ: Thank you, Secretary. My (inaudible) and also our ambassador (inaudible).

Mr. Secretary, thank you very much for your warm welcome and also for the honors that you have given to me. And thank you for this opportunity of meeting you again this -- in Pentagon.

I've been here in 2006 and I never dreamt that I'll be here besides you, and I feel -- I belong in this family.

Todays meeting is a good opportunity to build on our discussions during your visit in the Philippines last -- (inaudible) and reaffirm our commitment to the Philippines-U.S. mutual defense treaty.

In addition to the most productive Two-Plus-Two, is the consultations that we had. The conduct of the Exercise Balikatan, the most, I believe -- the biggest among the 38, of this month are among some of the (inaudible) that our alliance is in hyperdrive.

Our regular exchange and close coordination demonstrate the extent of our defense relationship. And I have mentioned on several occasions that the importance of our Philippine - U.S. defense cooperation in the region, especially at this time when significant challenges are becoming increasing complex and evolving.

As I have said yesterday, is that our alliance is for peace. Our defense alliance is critical in assuring the safety and security of our citizens, and we continue to work together to enhance our capabilities to meet the current and future security challenges, including disasters.

To modernize our alliance we need to focus on separate areas. Number one is that we need a common understanding of our policies and priorities. That's why we will be having our defense guidelines. And upgrade our equipment to sustain our militaries capability to respond to threats.

Second, we must enhance our cyber defenses to protect our critical infrastructures and sensitive information.

Number three is we need to increase intelligence sharing and cooperation together against (inaudible) and respond to the challenges. And we want to thank you for giving us always the highest (inaudible). That really helps a lot.

Fourth, we must improve interoperability between our forces to better coordinate and conduct joint activities.

May I also reiterate our, also to express our appreciation for the U.S. government's support to the Philippines government's management of the oil spill in Oriental Mindoro.

Thank you very much. Mr. Secretary, with the phone call that we had it was materialized immediately, and we really thank you because it really helped us to manage the oil spill that we had.

I believe the -- where we -- went there, in Mindoro, together with the Coast Guard, they're very happy when the -- our army was able to patch up all the 23 leaks that we have identified with the ship.

We appreciate the unwavering support of the U.S. Navy through the deployment of remotely operated vehicle of the (inaudible), as well as the technical support provided by the U.S. Coast Guard and the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in order to -- for us to help contain, and scientifically respond with the crisis.

I am looking forward to another fruitful discussions to strengthen our alliance and work together towards the more peaceful and secure future.

I would like also to inform your noble secretary that we have good responses with our former generals and also our colleagues, with the fruitful outcome of our 2 Plus 2, and they are very grateful for the important achievements -- the achievements that we have together as allies. Thank you.

SEC. AUSTIN: Mr. Secretary, again, thanks for being here. And we're delighted to have you back in the Pentagon. We look forward to working with you to strengthen our relationship. So thanks everybody.

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Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III Welcomes Carlito Galvez Jr ... - Department of Defense