As alternative investments become more accessible to a wider range of investors, advisors are facing growing demands around transparency, reporting accuracy and operational efficiency. Alex Hernandez, Director of SS&C Accord, works with clients navigating these challenges, combining automation and specialized oversight to streamline the management of alternative investment data. In this Q&A, Hernandez shares her perspective on the market forces driving growth in the sector and how technology is transforming support for investors while driving greater operational efficiencies.
What are the current key trends in the alternative investments market and how is SS&C Accord responding?
The alternative investments industry is undergoing a fundamental shift from growth and adoption to scale and operationalization. A key trend is the continued democratization of alternative investments and the growing presence of retail investors in private markets. Historically, these opportunities were restricted to institutional investors, but they are now much more accessible to a broader range of investors.
There is also growing demand for transparency and faster access to information. As advisors increase allocations to alternative assets, product structures become more complex, and they are looking to scale without increasing operational headcount.
This is exactly where SS&C Accord is positioned. As the volume and complexity of fragmented alternative investment data continues to increase, Accord helps firms operationalize that data at scale. We combine AI-powered document processing, data extraction, workflow automation and human oversight to transform unstructured fund documents into actionable investment data.
What has been the biggest challenge for you so far in 2026?
We've seen significant growth in both client volumes and activity levels, while continuing to expand the platform’s capabilities. That is exciting; however, it also creates a balancing act between scaling the business, enhancing the platform and maintaining high levels of service and operational excellence our clients expect.
We process thousands of documents every day using robotic process automation (RPA) to automate portions of those workflows, increase efficiencies and create significant capacity across the business. Automation is not the full answer, though. While the technology can do much of the heavy lifting, we have teams of alternative investment specialists who are constantly reviewing, validating and applying their expertise to ensure timely and accurate data. Striking that balance between automation and applying specialist oversight is critical to how we operate and what differentiates SS&C Accord from many of our competitors
Where do you think the greatest opportunities lie for your business over the coming year?
We've already seen how automation can improve efficiency across our operations, and we believe there is significant scope to go further. The more effectively we can automate routine processes, the more capacity we create for higher-value work that drives better outcomes for our clients and our business.
A major focus for delivering on that is how well we can integrate SS&C’s Work HQ platform to support our teams by leveraging RPA to automate repetitive tasks. Every incremental improvement we make internally has a downstream benefit for our clients, as it allows us to process information faster and more efficiently to deliver a superior client service.
The more efficient we become, the more efficient our clients are as the support we provide allows them to spend less time dealing with operational challenges, and more time focusing on investment decisions and scaling their business.
Alternative investment data is often fragmented across multiple sources, systems and providers. What operational pressures does that create when it comes to data management and reporting?
One of the biggest challenges in alternative investments is that the data ecosystem remains highly fragmented. The operational complexity is substantial as data comes from many third-party providers, often in different formats and through different channels. Advisors need to aggregate that information, validate it and present it in a consistent manner to meet client and regulatory demands.
Firms can attempt to manage those processes internally, but it requires expertise and robust controls, as alternative investments have many nuances and the data can be challenging to interpret and standardize. The challenge is not simply collecting the information—it’s about normalizing the data, validating it and ensuring appropriate controls are in place throughout the process. Even small discrepancies can create downstream impacts on performance reporting, portfolio analytics, compliance and client reporting.
At SS&C Accord, we see this challenge every day. Our focus is helping transform fragmented, unstructured alternative investment data into standardized information that can flow seamlessly into downstream reporting systems.
Where are the greatest opportunities for alternative investment managers, and how will you be supporting clients in pursuing them?
What excites me most is the continued democratization of alternative investments. Today, product innovation, regulatory changes and technology are enabling a much broader population of investors to participate in private markets.
The appeal is also about diversification and accessing differentiated sources of return that are less correlated to public markets. The challenge is that serving a larger and more diverse investor base requires a fundamentally different operating model. What worked for a small number of institutional investors does not necessarily scale when supporting thousands of advisors and individual investors.
This is where I see one of the biggest opportunities in the industry. Not just expanding access to private markets but operationalizing the infrastructure that supports that growth. The ability to automate workflows, standardize data, reduce manual touchpoints and deliver timely insights becomes a competitive advantage.
That is where SS&C Accord can make a real difference to advisors and their operations. Through technology, automation and expertise, we are helping our clients manage the complexity that comes with alternative investments while enabling them to capitalize on the tremendous opportunity created by the continued expansion and democratization of private markets.
Contact us to learn more.
About Alex Hernandez: Alex Hernandez is a Director at SS&C Accord, where she works with clients on the management and operationalization of alternative investment data. She was recently named to the Jacksonville Business Journal's 40 Under 40 list.