Highlights and Insights from SuperReturn North America 2023

Highlights and Insights from SuperReturn North America 2023

We were delighted to be part of North America’s leading private equity conference, SuperReturn at the Marriott Marquis in Times Square, NY this time last week.

By the numbers:

·      2 action-packed days

·      1400 attendees from all around the world

·      7 exhibitors (including Robin AI!)

·      28 speaking sessions, including engaged conversations, presentations and panel discussions

·      96 speakers (incl. NBA legend Carmelo Anthony & former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo)

·      33 sponsors

Thousands of conversations between LPs, GPs, compliance, legal and regulatory professionals along with technology solutions providers like Robin AI took place over the two day conference. Along with sessions on macroeconomic outlook, the state of private markets and strategic advice for maximizing returns, there were several featured topics over the course of the two days.

Generative AI 

The rise of applications for AI in private markets was a major theme of the conference, touching on topics from how it will drive operational efficiencies to risk analysis and investment opportunities for emerging technology. The Robin AI team engaged in several discussions about how our own AI-native solutions will positively impact private markets leaders, including reducing time on administrative tasks like side letter management or accelerating NDA turnaround.

During the session, ‘Making Sense of theChanging World of Regulation’, Robin AI’s CEO Richard Robinson pointed out that most companies struggle with their contractual obligations. And with new SEC regulations, the burden of compliance and reporting is increasing. AI technology, he said, will make both regulatory compliance and clarifying contractual obligations much simpler and faster.

Other panelists voiced concern about compliance with new SEC private fund advisor rules, a hot topic at SuperReturn.

Our discussions with attendees demonstrated that there is still a lot of trepidation about what the new SEC rules will mean for the asset management industry, and concerns about mobilizing quickly to bring approaches in line with the new regulatory guidance.

The approach to managing the new requirements around preferential treatment in side letters was of particular concern, with AI technology presenting an opportunity to support with this task, and ensuring that the cost of being compliant doesn’t become a bigger financial burden for firms.

The race is on to get processes in shape and obligations understood to be compliant with the new regulations. Robin AI is already helping a huge number of the leading US PE firms to harness the power of AI to manage side letters and obligations efficiently and effectively.

Simplifying Side Letters

Our CEO and Founder, Richard Robinson wrote for the FT Adviser about the new SEC rules and the impact on Private Funds. In the last decade, the use and complexity of side letters has increased dramatically. With the new SEC rules around preferential treatment, tracking and managing all the individual obligations to remain compliant with the new rules is causing major concern for Private Markets leaders.

In the last 12 months, Robin AI have developed sophisticated AI-powered search tools that enable the asset management industry to find all their obligations in seconds with natural language querying, to compare clauses in a click, and to manage all their obligations and workflows surrounding that in a simple and intuitive dashboard. For a private equity firm with different funds and hundreds of side letters attached to each, Robin AI can make the process of identifying and understanding clauses and obligations very straightforward.

Accelerating Turnaround of Due Diligence Questionnaires (DDQs)

Another application of large language models and natural language querying is in the completion of DDQs. Private Equity firms have been using Robin AI's powerful search to store, manage and query their previously completed DDQs. This has enabled PE firms to dramatically reduce the time spent filling out DDQs, and the reduced the involvement required across different teams to get these completed.

Investor Relations teams have found this a powerful tool to help accelerate the turnaround of these documents, improving the experience for existing and prospective investors. A process which was taking some Private Equity firms anywhere from 5-10 days to complete depending on the complexity of the documents, is now being used to manage the process in 1-3 days.

Faster, Consistent, Contract Review

Many of the conversations at SuperReturn focussed on the need to be quick and agile when exploring new opportunities. Many teams at Private Equity firms in particular are slowed down by the time that it takes to turnaround routine documents like NDAs. The team at Robin AI were able to showcase to a number of attendees the power of Robin AI's contract copilot, which can be used to speed up NDA review by over 80%.

By leveraging AI to create custom playbooks, PE firms are able to get AI-suggested edits for their contracts, with additional tools to help to accelerate review, like being able to quickly summarise obligations, or find a specific clause in a contract. Many leaders in Private Markets are also taking advantage of Robin AI's Managed Services, whereby a team of legal professionals uses the AI contract copilot to accelerate contract review of routine documents. With 24/7 coverage and fast turnaround, there are options available that suit the needs of different businesses in the asset management industry.

Get in touch with Robin AI 

If you didn't get a chance to connect with the Robin AI team at the SuperReturn North America conference, contact us here to arrange a meeting. We're working with global leaders in Private Markets to harness the power of legal AI to ensure compliance and regulatory obligations are met, all whilst reducing costs and time on admin.