BBH has deployed the Depowise platform across its alternative investment fund depositary operations in Luxembourg, centralising data, automating cash flow monitoring, and strengthening the controls that underpin its oversight duties.
As Luxembourg’s alternative investment fund market continues to expand, depositaries are under growing pressure to scale their operations while maintaining robust oversight.
Brown Brothers Harriman (BBH) has adopted the Depowise platform to enhance its alternative investment fund depositary operations in Luxembourg, enabling a more efficient and scalable operating model to support continued growth.
The move reflects a clear strategic direction. Alternative funds are among the fastest-growing segments of the Luxembourg market, and the operational demands they place on depositaries are rising in step. By consolidating its depositary oversight onto a single platform, BBH is positioning its alternatives business to grow without a proportional increase in manual effort or operational risk.
The deployment moves core depositary processes into one environment, covering cash flow monitoring, safekeeping and recordkeeping, and cash and transaction oversight, with the Questionnaire and Customer Portal module deployed alongside. The go-live represents a deliberate technology advancement for one of the most established names in global asset servicing.
A single source of truth
Depositary oversight of alternative investment funds has historically relied on data spread across multiple systems, reconciled and checked by hand. As AIF structures grow in scale and complexity, that model becomes harder to sustain and harder to evidence.
BBH’s move onto Depowise centralises that data in one platform. Cash flow monitoring, previously a manual and time-intensive process, is now automated and less exposed to manual error. Asset records and transaction oversight sit in the same environment, giving BBH’s teams a consolidated, auditable view of the funds under their oversight.
The result is not only greater efficiency. It is a stronger control environment. By structuring oversight work within the platform, BBH has been able to reinforce and extend the checks its depositary teams perform, with the consistency and traceability that manual processes cannot guarantee at scale.
Built around the alternative funds business
The implementation was shaped around how BBH operates as a depositary in the alternatives space. Rather than forcing a change in operating model, the platform was configured to reflect BBH’s processes, including the use of structured workflows that function as a comprehensive, auditable checklist across its depositary duties.
This matters because the alternatives segment is where depositary oversight is most operationally demanding. Luxembourg’s alternative fund sector continues to grow at pace.
Industry data points to double-digit annual growth in assets under deposit across alternative structures, with vehicles such as RAIFs among the fastest expanding. As that growth continues, the regulatory expectations attached to it are rising. The AIFMD II transposition deadline of 16 April 2026 places greater emphasis on depositary oversight, delegation monitoring, and the evidence trail behind it. Hence a centralised, automated oversight platform positions BBH to meet those expectations with confidence.
A partnership that raised the bar
The implementation ran over a full platform release cycle, with BBH and Depowise teams working closely throughout. BBH brought the operational depth and oversight rigour of a leading global asset servicer. Depowise brought a platform built specifically for depositary work.
The level of trust and collaboration between the two teams pushed the platform forward. Working alongside an institution that operates as close to the regulatory frontier as BBH does, Depowise was able to refine and strengthen the platform through real depositary experience. The engagement leaves Depowise a better platform for the depositary market as a whole.
About Brown Brothers Harriman
Brown Brothers Harriman (BBH) is a global financial services firm known for premium service and specialist expertise, with a 200-year track record helping clients innovate and navigate complex financial markets. BBH’s approximately 6,000 employees serve clients and their investments across 18 offices and more than 90 markets. As a private partnership, BBH is built to put clients first and create success that lasts. BBH Investor Services is a leading provider of asset servicing and operating model solutions to global asset managers and financial institutions, including custody, global tax services, depositary and trustee, accounting, administration, and transfer agency. In Luxembourg, BBH operates through Brown Brothers Harriman (Luxembourg) S.C.A., a credit institution supervised by the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF).
About Depowise
Depowise builds technology for depositaries. The Depowise platform brings Cash Flow Monitoring, Safekeeping, and Oversight into a single operating environment, helping institutions simplify depositary operations and reduce manual effort in complex, regulated fund environments.
By centralising data and automating core depositary processes, Depowise enables depositaries to operate with greater consistency, control, and efficiency while scaling operations without increasing operational risk or cost.
Founded in 2021, Depowise serves depositaries across Europe managing over €2 trillion in assets across 3,000+ funds.
