JPMorgan Worldwide Securities Services has claimed its first client in Australia for the specialist private equity fund administration service it launched last year.

AustralianSuper, which has about 25 per cent of its estimated $28 billion of assets in unlisted investments, has signed up to JP Morgan’s ‘Private Equity Fund Services’ (PEFS). PEFS provides analysis and reporting for private equity, property and infrastructure. For AustralianSuper, JP Morgan will support various processes, including alternative investment performance and investor tracking, while streamlining the private equity instructions process. It is a global platform which services more than 200 clients and administers committed capital of about $45 billion. PEFS competes directly with State Street’s service, which was launched in Australia in 2006, called Private Edge. BNP Paribas is also looking to bring its global alternatives administration platform to Australia. NAB Custody uses an inhouse system for alternatives. Laurence Bailey, chief executive of JP Morgan Worldwide Securities Services Asia Pacific, said the arrangement with AustralianSuper was one of the first of its type in the southern hemisphere. PEFS has a team of about 150 staff in private equity accounting and operations situated in Australia, the US and Europe.