DUF Duff & Phelps Corp. Class A

- Conference Speakers Discuss Trend and its Impact on Fundraising; General Partners Responding by Hiring Back Office Staff and Implementing Software

NEW YORK, Dec. 10, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- iLevel Solutions announced polling results from last week's Duff & Phelps (NYSE: DUF) 6th Annual Alternative Investment Conference. The results show that General Partners are seeing an uptick in institutional investors asking for more reporting from their private equity fund managers and that those fund managers are building up their back offices to meet these demands. Supporting the results of the poll, private equity leaders shared anecdotes from recent fundraising efforts where potential investors requested reporting and transparency similar to what they receive for other investments such as public equities.

Audience polling, gathered during the iLevel and Hamilton Lane joint session on portfolio reporting and transparency, indicates that nearly half of the General Partners in attendance feel they fall short in their Limited Partner reporting or struggle to understand the reporting demands of their LPs.

"Many large pension fund CIOs today cannot track earnings or debt levels across their private equity portfolio. It's unreasonable to expect the asset class will grow if the CIO can't get answers to those types of questions," said Erik Hirsch, CIO of Hamilton Lane. "We see technology as a key enabler of increased transparency and Hamilton Lane has partnered with iLevel to design a new version of their portfolio management platform that will be available to our clients and other LPs in 2013. This new version will offer the kind of standard and customizable reporting that private equity investors want."

Discussing recent fundraising efforts, several fund managers relayed that investors are choosing one fund manager over another based more on reporting capabilities than ever before.

"We are absolutely seeing capital commitment decisions being made based on the fund manager's ability to offer transparency and better reporting to their limited partners," said Laurence Tosi, Chief Financial Officer of Blackstone Group (NYSE: BX), during his keynote address. "Blackstone uses the iLevel platform as a critical part of our private equity portfolio management platform."

iLevel polling also shows 50% of GPs in attendance plan to increase their back-office headcount over the next 18 months, largely due to the need to satisfy an increase in LP reporting demands.

"One GP at the conference told me they have seen requests from LPs increase 400% in the last year alone," said Rick Kushel, CEO of iLevel Solutions. "Poll results also clearly indicate that GPs are investing in resources to meet this increasing demand from their investors. We continue to see GP firms add headcount and implement portfolio monitoring and reporting software to deliver complete, accurate and timely reporting to their investors."

For complete poll results and additional speaker commentary visit http://www.ilevelsolutions.com/december-2012-poll-results/ or request it via e-mail to sales@ilevelsolutions.com.

About iLevel Solutions

iLevel Solutions offers the market-leading Portfolio Management Platform for the alternative asset management market. The innovative, highly secure Software-as-a-Service technology solution automates the collection, storage, collaboration, analysis, and reporting of portfolio data. Investors in iLevel Solutions include Blackstone (NYSE: BX), The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ: CG), Duff & Phelps (NYSE: DUF), Hamilton Lane, Swift River Investments, and Egis Capital Partners. For more information, please visit www.ilevelsolutions.com.