Aquilius and SS&C: A Strategic Alliance to Master Asia’s Private Markets

The partnership between Aquilius Investment Partners and SS&C Technologies, announced on April 22, 2025, signals a bold move to capitalize on Asia’s booming private markets. By entrusting its fund administration to SS&C’s GlobeOp platform, Aquilius—a Singapore-based specialist in secondary market transactions—aims to scale its operations while maintaining operational rigor. For SS&C, the deal reinforces its position as a vital infrastructure provider for the region’s fast-growing alternative asset sector.

The Rise of Asia’s Private Markets
Asia-Pacific’s private equity and secondary markets have surged in recent years, driven by institutional investors seeking higher returns in a low-yield global environment. Aquilius, with over $1.4 billion in assets under management (AUM), is well-positioned to meet this demand. Founded in 2021 by industry veterans Bastian Wolff and Christian Keiber, the firm focuses on secondary transactions—LP fund transfers, GP-led buyouts, and secondary direct investments—that require both local market knowledge and sophisticated back-office support.

The challenge for firms like Aquilius lies in managing cross-jurisdictional compliance, liquidity, and investor reporting. This is where SS&C’s expertise comes into play.

Why SS&C? Technology as the Backbone
SS&C’s GlobeOp division offers a suite of services tailored to private markets, including compliance, treasury management, and cross-border operations. For Aquilius, the partnership addresses a critical need: leveraging SS&C’s technology to streamline its expanding operations. Shirley Law, SS&C’s Singapore managing director, emphasized the firm’s “cutting-edge technology and regional expertise,” which are critical for navigating Asia’s fragmented regulatory landscape.

The strategic alignment is clear. Aquilius gains access to SS&C’s global platform, while SS&C deepens its footprint in a region it has prioritized for growth. This is not a trivial move: SS&C serves over 22,000 clients worldwide and has been expanding its Asia-Pacific capabilities for years.

SS&C’s stock has risen steadily since 2020, reflecting investor confidence in its role as a financial technology leader.

The Bigger Picture: Private Markets Need Scalable Infrastructure
The partnership underscores a broader trend: the demand for robust back-office infrastructure as private markets mature. Secondary transactions, in particular, require precise valuation, liquidity management, and cross-border coordination—tasks that SS&C’s platform is designed to handle.

Bastian Wolff, Aquilius’ co-founder, noted that SS&C’s “deep private markets expertise” was pivotal in their decision. This reflects a shift in the industry, where managers increasingly prioritize technology-driven partners to manage complexity.

Market Potential and Risks
Asia-Pacific’s secondary market is still nascent compared to the U.S. or Europe, but it is growing rapidly. According to Preqin, the region’s secondary market could reach $100 billion in deal value by 2027, up from $30 billion in 2020. For Aquilius, the SS&C partnership positions it to capture a larger share of this growth.

Yet challenges remain. Regulatory divergence across jurisdictions—such as differing reporting standards in China, India, and Southeast Asia—requires meticulous oversight. SS&C’s experience in navigating these complexities could be a differentiating factor.

Conclusion: A Model for the Future
The Aquilius-SS&C alliance exemplifies how specialized investment managers and financial technology providers can create synergies in a high-growth market. By pairing Aquilius’ local execution capability with SS&C’s scalable infrastructure, the partnership addresses two critical needs: operational efficiency and regulatory compliance.

With $2 billion in transactions already executed by Aquilius’ team and SS&C’s proven track record—its GlobeOp division manages over $2 trillion in assets—the collaboration has the potential to redefine how secondary markets operate in Asia. For investors, this partnership highlights the importance of infrastructure investments in unlocking private market opportunities.

As Asia’s private equity landscape matures, alliances like this one will likely become the norm, not the exception. For now, Aquilius and SS&C have set a compelling precedent—one that could shape the region’s financial future.