Linnovate Partners, a major disruptor in the alternative investment ecosystem, has been making waves since its inception just a few years ago. As it is growing by leaps and bounds, with an AUA to the tune of US$75 billion, more and more private equity and venture capital companies are showing interest in partnering with us or have become our partners. Meanwhile, we are drawing much attention in the industry, not least through our recruitment drive in different parts of the world, including Silicon Valley.

We are pleased to invite Henry Lin, CEO of Linnovate Partner, to give us a lowdown on the business of his energetic company and share his industry insight and outlook on the company.

“Asset managers in private equity and venture capital need all-round services to support their portfolio monitoring. Our mission is to leverage our industry expertise, cutting-edge automation technology and data integration services to support our clients and boost their performance in every possible way.”  

Henry Lin, CEO at Linnovate Partners  

Q: So Linnovate Partners is a disruptor in alternative investment. Tell us more.

Henry: We are not just a disrupt, but a major one in the alternative investment industry! We are also a leading asset service company in this sector.

Our forte is to provide an integrated suite of technology-enabled solutions and consultation services that cater to the specific needs of asset and fund managers.

You can say Linnovate Partners is a young company as it was founded only in 2016, but our AUA today already amounts to US$75 billion, and we service 300 funds for our private equity and venture capital clients.

Q: That’s quite impressive. So what’s your secret recipe for success in the alternative investment sector?

Henry: Well, it’s a long list of ingredients. But one important factor is to identify problems, and to use our strengths to deliver the right solutions.

One glaring issue in the industry is that many fund houses tend to invest a lot in digitalization of their frontline customer service, but not enough digital transformation effort is being made to their back offices.

We know that many asset managers are still using spreadsheet to do various fund administrative tasks. This hinders their ability to access quality and timely information for effective decision-making.

Our mission is to leverage our industry expertise, cutting-edge automation technology and data integration services to support our clients and boost their performance in every possible way.

Q: You say Linnovate Partners is a leading asset service company, but how is it different from other industry players?

Henry: One thing that sets us apart from other asset servicing companies is that we are adding a significant amount of automation elements to our tech-enabled services. This provides ample room for our people to move up the value chain and perform risk-based reviews as opposed to manual inputting data and recording activities. 

Also, we have further reinforced the functions of our self-developed technology platform, SMP Net. The many clever features of SMP Net include a clear dashboard, through which our clients can access the right data and make sound business decisions for themselves.

Q: What are your clients looking for?

Henry: Asset managers in private equity and venture capital need all-round services to support their portfolio monitoring.

In particular, LPs look for solutions that combine technology with a variety of services, and which work around the clock to maintain portfolio intelligence while eliminating risks associated with software implementations.

Q: Blockchain is a buzz word and a widely used disruptive technology today. How is Linnovate Partners making use of this technology?

Henry: Passionately and effectively!

We have established a strong team of specialists to develop and reinforce our blockchain technology, not least because all of our clients have strong interest in blockchain technology.

For example, our Fintech Solution Director Andrew Ang came on board recently to lead our fintech solution team to create cutting-edge fintech solutions that can better serve our clients and ensure what we offer can precisely meet their needs.

We are aware of the enormous impact of technological advancement on business activities. We are investing heavily on the technology front to make sure we continue to lead the way in the asset servicing industry in the next 5 to 10 years.

Q: What’s the growth strategy of Linnovate Partners?

Henry: Sensible expansion is a big part of it.

In 2021, we further broadened our global presence by opening a new office in Silicon Valley. And we are constantly expanding our teams and operations to better service our clients all over the world.

To date, Linnovate Partners has more than 130 employees. They specialize in different areas: alternative fund services, fintech solutions, R&D and regulatory compliance.

Q: And your future plans?

Henry: In the next two to five years, we are going to hire more people working in our Alternative Fund Services team, Fintech team and R&D team.

We’ll also be expanding our US team and investing a lot of resources to enhance our technology platform.