'Alternative Investments Technology: Bridging the Gap' - A Fund Manager's Guide to Overcoming Tech Dilemmas
PNN
New Delhi [India], June 2: For fund managers navigating digital transformation, the real challenge isn't the lack of tools - it's the flood of questions. Where do we begin? What's worth automating? Should we build or buy? In his new book, Alternative Investments Technology: Bridging the Gap (Taylor & Francis | Routledge), seasoned technologist and enterprise architect Ankur Agarwal offers a practical, jargon-free roadmap to help private capital firms make smarter, business-aligned technology decisions.
Drawing on decades of experience working closely with fund managers, Ankur identifies the recurring dilemmas investment leaders face - dilemmas that are more about change management and strategic clarity than tech specs. This book serves as a field guide for navigating those choices.
"The idea for this book came from years of sitting across the table from fund managers who kept running into the same set of questions," says Agarwal. "Over time, I realized those questions weren't just technical - they reflected deeper decision-making dilemmas. Yet there wasn't a practical guide that looked at these issues from both the business and technology lens. That's what I set out to write."
About the Book
Alternative Investments Technology: Bridging the Gap helps private capital firms:
* Identify the right starting point for automation and tech modernization.
* Evaluate when to build vs. buy, and how much to customize.
* Simplify investor reporting, compliance, and ESG tracking using technology.
* Make strategic tech decisions without falling into vendor hype or abstraction.
The book is designed for fund managers, operational heads, and decision-makers at private equity, private debt, venture capital, and fund-of-funds firms - especially those at early to mid-stages of digital maturity.
"If you are an alternative investment firm in an early stage of your automation journey, there is not a lot of literature for you to get smarter about the path ahead. Ankur's book fills this important gap," says Rajdeep Endow, Private Equity Advisor & Transformation Leader. "Written in a simple and lucid style, Ankur uses real-world examples to illustrate his points and provide actionable advice."
Media Coverage
The book has been reviewed by CIO Africa, which called it "a must-read for firms in emerging markets looking to scale responsibly through technology."
Read the full review: CIO Africa Book Review
About the Author
Ankur Agarwal is Co-Founder and CTO of PE Front Office, a leading SaaS platform for alternative investment firms. A TOGAF-certified architect, poet, and musician, Ankur has also authored Enterprise Technology in Private Equity (PEI Media, 2013) and the poetry collection Adyakshar (2020).
Book Details
Title: Alternative Investments Technology: Bridging the Gap
Author: Ankur Agarwal
Publisher: Taylor & Francis (Routledge)
ISBN: 9781032771786
Available at: Routledge, Amazon and other global retailers
Formats: Paperback, Hardcover, eBook
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As a bishop in Peru, Robert Prevost was often on the lookout for used cars that he could buy cheap and fix up himself for use in parishes around his diocese. With cars that were really broken down, he'd watch YouTube videos to learn how to fix them. That kind of make-do-with-less, fix-it-yourself mentality could serve Pope Leo XIV well as he addresses one of the greatest challenges facing him as pope: The Holy See's chronic, 50 million to 60 million euro ($57-68 million) structural deficit, 1 billion euro ($1.14 billion) pension fund shortfall and declining donations that together pose something of an existential threat to the central government of the 1.4-billion strong Catholic Church. As a Chicago-born math major, canon lawyer and two-time superior of his global Augustinian religious order, the 69-year-old pope presumably can read a balance sheet and make sense of the Vatican's complicated finances, which have long been mired in scandal. Whether he can change the financial culture of the Holy See, consolidate reforms Pope Francis started and convince donors that their money is going to good use is another matter. Leo already has one thing going for him: his American-ness. US donors have long been the economic life support system of the Holy See, financing everything from papal charity projects abroad to restorations of St Peter's Basilica at home. Leo's election as the first American pope has sent a jolt of excitement through US Catholics, some of whom had soured on donating to the Vatican after years of unrelenting stories of mismanagement, corruption and scandal, according to interviews with top Catholic fundraisers, philanthropists and church management experts. I think the election of an American is going to give greater confidence that any money given is going to be cared for by American principles, especially of stewardship and transparency, said the Rev. Roger Landry, director of the Vatican's main missionary fundraising operation in the US, the Pontifical Mission Societies. So there will be great hope that American generosity is first going to be appreciated and then secondly is going to be well handled, he said. That hasn't always been the circumstance, especially lately. Reforms and unfinished business Pope Francis was elected in 2013 on a mandate to reform the Vatican's opaque finances and made progress during his 12-year pontificate, mostly on the regulatory front. With help from the late Australian Cardinal George Pell, Francis created an economy ministry and council made up of clergy and lay experts to supervise Vatican finances, and he wrestled the Italian-dominated bureaucracy into conforming to international accounting and budgetary standards. He authorized a landmark, if deeply problematic, corruption trial over a botched London property investment that convicted a once-powerful Italian cardinal. And he punished the Vatican's Secretariat of State that had allowed the London deal to go through by stripping it of its ability to manage its own assets. But Francis left unfinished business and his overall record, at least according to some in the donor community, is less than positive. Critics cite Pell's frustrated reform efforts and the firing of the Holy See's first-ever auditor general, who says he was ousted because he had uncovered too much financial wrongdoing. Despite imposing years of belt-tightening and hiring freezes, Francis left the Vatican in somewhat dire financial straits: The main stopgap bucket of money that funds budgetary shortfalls, known as the Peter's Pence, is nearly exhausted, officials say. The 1 billion euro (USD1.14 billion) pension fund shortfall that Pell warned about a decade ago remains unaddressed, though Francis had planned reforms. And the structural deficit continues, with the Holy See logging an 83.5 million euro ($95 million) deficit in 2023, according to its latest financial report. As Francis' health worsened, there were signs that his efforts to reform the Vatican's medieval financial culture hadn't really stuck, either. The very same Secretariat of State that Francis had punished for losing tens of millions of euros in the scandalous London property deal somehow ended up heading up a new papal fundraising commission that was announced while Francis was in the hospital. According to its founding charter and statutes, the commission is led by the Secretariat of State's assessor, is composed entirely of Italian Vatican officials with no professional fundraising expertise and has no required external financial oversight. To some Vatican watchers, the commission smacks of the Italian-led Secretariat of State taking advantage of a sick pope to announce a new flow of unchecked donations into its coffers after its 600 million euro ($684 million) sovereign wealth fund was taken away and given to another office to manage as punishment for the London fiasco. There are no Americans on the commission. I think it would be good if there were representatives of Europe and Asia and Africa and the United States on the commission, said Ward Fitzgerald, president of the US-based Papal Foundation. It is made up of wealthy American Catholics that since 1990 has provided over $250 million (219 million euros) in grants and scholarships to the pope's global charitable initiatives. Fitzgerald, who spent his career in real estate private equity, said American donors especially the younger generation expect transparency and accountability from recipients of their money, and know they can find non-Vatican Catholic charities that meet those expectations. We would expect transparency before we would start to solve the problem, he said. That said, Fitzgerald said he hadn't seen any significant let-up in donor willingness to fund the Papal Foundation's project-specific donations during the Francis pontificate. Indeed, US donations to the Vatican overall have remained more or less consistent even as other countries' offerings declined, with US bishops and individual Catholics contributing more than any other country in the two main channels to donate to papal causes. A head for numbers and background fundraising Francis moved Prevost to take over the diocese of Chiclayo, Peru, in 2014. Residents and fellow priests say he consistently rallied funds, food and other life-saving goods for the neediest experience that suggests he knows well how to raise money when times are tight and how to spend wisely. He bolstered the local Caritas charity in Chiclayo, with parishes creating food banks that worked with local businesses to distribute donated food, said the Rev. Fidel Purisaca Vigil, a diocesan spokesperson. In 2019, Prevost inaugurated a shelter on the outskirts of Chiclayo, Villa San Vicente de Paul, to house desperate Venezuelan migrants who had fled their country's economic crisis. The migrants remember him still, not only for helping give them and their children shelter, but for bringing live chickens obtained from a donor. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Prevost launched a campaign to raise funds to build two oxygen plants to provide hard-hit residents with life-saving oxygen. In 2023, when massive rains flooded the region, he personally brought food to the flood-struck zone. Within hours of his May 8 election, videos went viral on social media of Prevost, wearing rubber boots and standing in a flooded street, pitching a solidarity campaign, Peru Give a Hand, to raise money for flood victims. The Rev. Jorge Milln, who lived with Prevost and eight other priests for nearly a decade in Chiclayo, said he had a mathematical mentality and knew how to get the job done. Prevost would always be on the lookout for used cars to buy for use around the diocese, Milln said, noting that the bishop often had to drive long distances to reach all of his flock or get to Lima, the capital. Prevost liked to fix them up himself, and if he didn't know what to do, he'd look up solutions on YouTube and very often he'd find them, Milln told The Associated Press. Before going to Peru, Prevost served two terms as prior general, or superior, of the global Augustinian order. While the order's local provinces are financially independent, Prevost was responsible for reviewing their balance sheets and oversaw the budgeting and investment strategy of the order's headquarters in Rome, said the Rev. Franz Klein, the order's Rome-based economist who worked with Prevost. The Augustinian campus sits on prime real estate just outside St. Peter's Square and supplements revenue by renting out its picturesque terrace to media organizations (including the AP) for major Vatican events, including the conclave that elected Leo pope. But even Prevost saw the need for better fundraising, especially to help out poorer provinces. Toward the end of his 12-year term and with his support, a committee proposed creation of a foundation, Augustinians in the World. At the end of 2023, it had 994,000 euros ($1.13 million) in assets and was helping fund self-sustaining projects across Africa, including a centre to rehabilitate former child soldiers in Congo. 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As a bishop in Peru, Robert Prevost was often on the lookout for used cars that he could buy cheap and fix up himself for use in parishes around his diocese. With cars that were really broken down, he'd watch YouTube videos to learn how to fix them. That kind of make-do-with-less, fix-it-yourself mentality could serve Pope Leo XIV well as he addresses one of the greatest challenges facing him as pope: The Holy See's chronic, 50 million to 60 million euro ($57-68 million) structural deficit, 1 billion euro ($1.14 billion) pension fund shortfall and declining donations that together pose something of an existential threat to the central government of the 1.4-billion strong Catholic Church . As a Chicago-born math major, canon lawyer and two-time superior of his global Augustinian religious order, the 69-year-old pope presumably can read a balance sheet and make sense of the Vatican's complicated finances, which have long been mired in scandal. 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"I think the election of an American is going to give greater confidence that any money given is going to be cared for by American principles, especially of stewardship and transparency," said the Rev. Roger Landry, director of the Vatican's main missionary fundraising operation in the US, the Pontifical Mission Societies. Live Events You Might Also Like: Whoops, waves, tears: Faithful react to Pope Leo's first Sunday blessing in St. Peter's Square "So there will be great hope that American generosity is first going to be appreciated and then secondly is going to be well handled," he said. "That hasn't always been the circumstance, especially lately." Reforms and unfinished business Pope Francis was elected in 2013 on a mandate to reform the Vatican's opaque finances and made progress during his 12-year pontificate, mostly on the regulatory front. With help from the late Australian Cardinal George Pell , Francis created an economy ministry and council made up of clergy and lay experts to supervise Vatican finances, and he wrestled the Italian-dominated bureaucracy into conforming to international accounting and budgetary standards. He authorized a landmark, if deeply problematic, corruption trial over a botched London property investment that convicted a once-powerful Italian cardinal. And he punished the Vatican's Secretariat of State that had allowed the London deal to go through by stripping it of its ability to manage its own assets. But Francis left unfinished business and his overall record, at least according to some in the donor community, is less than positive. Critics cite Pell's frustrated reform efforts and the firing of the Holy See's first-ever auditor general, who says he was ousted because he had uncovered too much financial wrongdoing. You Might Also Like: Pope Leo XIV celebrates first Mass after historic election as Pope Francis' successor Despite imposing years of belt-tightening and hiring freezes, Francis left the Vatican in somewhat dire financial straits: The main stopgap bucket of money that funds budgetary shortfalls, known as the Peter's Pence, is nearly exhausted, officials say. The 1 billion euro ($1.14 billion) pension fund shortfall that Pell warned about a decade ago remains unaddressed, though Francis had planned reforms. And the structural deficit continues, with the Holy See logging an 83.5 million euro ($95 million) deficit in 2023, according to its latest financial report. As Francis' health worsened, there were signs that his efforts to reform the Vatican's medieval financial culture hadn't really stuck, either. 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I think it would be good if there were representatives of Europe and Asia and Africa and the United States on the commission," said Ward Fitzgerald, president of the U.S.-based Papal Foundation . It is made up of wealthy American Catholics that since 1990 has provided over $250 million (219 million euros) in grants and scholarships to the pope's global charitable initiatives. Fitzgerald, who spent his career in real estate private equity, said American donors - especially the younger generation - expect transparency and accountability from recipients of their money, and know they can find non-Vatican Catholic charities that meet those expectations. "We would expect transparency before we would start to solve the problem," he said. That said, Fitzgerald said he hadn't seen any significant let-up in donor willingness to fund the Papal Foundation's project-specific donations during the Francis pontificate. 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The migrants remember him still, not only for helping give them and their children shelter, but for bringing live chickens obtained from a donor. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Prevost launched a campaign to raise funds to build two oxygen plants to provide hard-hit residents with life-saving oxygen. In 2023, when massive rains flooded the region, he personally brought food to the flood-struck zone. Within hours of his May 8 election, videos went viral on social media of Prevost, wearing rubber boots and standing in a flooded street, pitching a solidarity campaign, "Peru Give a Hand," to raise money for flood victims. The Rev. Jorge Millan, who lived with Prevost and eight other priests for nearly a decade in Chiclayo, said he had a "mathematical" mentality and knew how to get the job done. Prevost would always be on the lookout for used cars to buy for use around the diocese, Millan said, noting that the bishop often had to drive long distances to reach all of his flock or get to Lima, the capital. Prevost liked to fix them up himself, and if he didn't know what to do, "he'd look up solutions on YouTube and very often he'd find them," Millan told The Associated Press. Before going to Peru, Prevost served two terms as prior general, or superior, of the global Augustinian order. While the order's local provinces are financially independent, Prevost was responsible for reviewing their balance sheets and oversaw the budgeting and investment strategy of the order's headquarters in Rome, said the Rev. Franz Klein, the order's Rome-based economist who worked with Prevost. The Augustinian campus sits on prime real estate just outside St. Peter's Square and supplements revenue by renting out its picturesque terrace to media organizations (including the AP) for major Vatican events, including the conclave that elected Leo pope. But even Prevost saw the need for better fundraising, especially to help out poorer provinces. Toward the end of his 12-year term and with his support, a committee proposed creation of a foundation, Augustinians in the World. At the end of 2023, it had 994,000 euros ($1.13 million) in assets and was helping fund self-sustaining projects across Africa, including a center to rehabilitate former child soldiers in Congo. "He has a very good interest and also a very good feeling for numbers," Klein said. "I have no worry about the finances of the Vatican in these years because he is very, very clever."
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