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Ocorian's international study among fund managers at private equity, venture capital and real estate firms, reveals 79% expect the number and overall value of fines issued in their sectors for breaking regulations will increase, with 18% expecting a dramatic rise. Furthermore, 86% said their organisations are preparing or budgeting for a potential increase in fines they could face.

Nearly four out of five (79%) interviewed believe their market is over-regulated, but despite this 85% believe the level of regulation will increase over the next five years.

When it comes to their organisation adhering to regulations in the different jurisdictions they operate in, only 29% of those surveyed say it is not an issue - 30% say they find this very difficult to do this, and 37% say it is quite difficult. Some 59% believe their organisation will find it more difficult to do this over the next five years, and just 27% believe it will become easier.

Overall, just 30% of alternative fund managers interviewed believe their organisations are excellent at meeting their regulatory requirements, with 66% saying they are good at it and only 1% describing their ability to do so as poor.

Over half (54%) of those professionals surveyed say their organisation's executive board takes regulation and compliance issues very seriously, and 41% say they take it quite seriously but could focus on it more. Just 4% said they don't take it seriously enough.

Aron Brown, Head of Regulatory & Compliance at Ocorian commented "It's surprising to see that 54% of the firms surveyed believe their organisations are too focused on compliance and regulation and not on commercial aspirations.

"Whereas what we've seen with our clients is if you get it right in the first place you become more efficient and are more attractive to investors. Good governance and robust compliance preparedness enhances commercial prospects and wins business. We see investors are increasingly cautious about where they invest so if they can find a good governance and compliance framework, they are more likely to invest."

"As our clients grow the nature, scale and complexity of their business, the regulatory demands also increase, this has implications in terms of their investment in compliance and the expectations upon them from their investors. Some are increasingly outsourcing to third parties like us to support them in this area, and they are also increasing their budgets for ensuring they are compliant.

"Indeed, 87% of those professionals we interviewed expect the organisations they work for to increase their budgets for regulation and compliance over the next five years."

The research also identified other actions alternative fund managers have taken as a result of difficulties regarding regulatory issues. Over the past five years, 65% of those surveyed said their organisations had invested in new technology to help with their compliance, but 55% said they had decided against making a major acquisition or investment because of regulatory concerns, and 53% had closed a division or part of their business because of regulatory concerns. Around 27% of those surveyed had outsourced more business processes to external third parties and almost one in four (24%) said their organisation had sold a business because of this.