FIS Blog
The #1 reason private equity teams feel unprepared for board meetings.
Paul Landi, FIS
July 22, 2020
These days, the sheer amount of information at our fingertips at any given moment is mind-blowing. With a few taps and swipes, you can get a report on how well you’ve been sleeping, track your monthly spending, check on your security system or peruse a restaurant menu.
There’s no denying we’ve grown accustomed to on-demand data, and we access our data on the go to help us make decisions and prepare for what comes next. Why should this experience be any different when you are heading into a meeting with prospective investors or about to join a portfolio company board meeting?
Months ago, private equity investment teams were constantly on the move, preparing for and traveling to meeting after meeting where critical decisions were made and deals were done. The challenge wasn’t landing the meeting with the decision-makers, it was that the data was locked up in spreadsheets and systems that are anything but user friendly. All too often, investment and deal teams felt unprepared as they walked through the door to their next meeting.
Today, since COVID-19 forced businesses to operate remotely and upended the concept of the in-person meeting, we are using software to collaborate and make decisions virtually. Organizations that accept this challenge as an opportunity to advance how things are done will reap the benefits of increased profitability tomorrow. Software and digital platforms with multiple contributors seeing, sharing and working within the same contextual arenas allow for a united team whether at home or back in the office.
When you need to make the next right decision, you should be able to call up key portfolio company or sector data points in an easily consumable view. The same way you glance at a sleep tracker on your smart phone and make a decision to go to bed earlier, or scroll through an app to choose the right products for your next grocery delivery, you should be able to pull up a private equity dashboard and feel instantly informed before you kick off your next meeting.
To solve the bigger problems in private equity, you need to be smarter and faster than the rest of the pack. Having information when you need it is critical. At FIS™, we believe the private equity industry should have the benefits of modern, innovative technology that we enjoy in other areas of our lives and work, and this is what led us to develop FIS Private Equity Rainmaker. Rainmaker is putting on-demand data into the hands of deal teams so that you can be as informed and prepared as possible when decision-making matters most.
With Rainmaker, you have the data you need, when and where you need it, so that you can make the best decisions possible for your firm and your investors.