February 10, 2026
Head of Marketing
At qashqade, our Inside Private Markets series explores the trends reshaping private markets, from technology-driven operational shifts to evolving expectations for transparency and governance. In this edition, we turn our focus to Norway and speak with ASK, a specialist provider of administrative and legal services for fund managers and investment companies across the alternative investment space.
ASK’s mission is clear: to make fund management and syndicated investments more accessible, combining accounting expertise with legal and administrative support for both day-to-day operations and complex establishment processes. We sat down with two of the co-founders, Jørgen Jensen Axelsen and Nils Rynning Mork to explore what makes Norway’s private markets distinct, the operational challenges facing lean fund teams, and how technology and service-driven models are reshaping fund administration.
ASK’s approach reflects the complementary backgrounds of its operational leadership. Jørgen brings an engineering mindset combined with experience in banking and corporate finance, emphasizing systems, structure, and process. Nils combines expertise in accounting, legal tech and business administration and brings a customer-centric perspective from legal-tech sales. In addition, the non-operational co-founding team consists of experienced founders with backgrounds from legal services, corporate finance and software development. Together they have built ASK on domain expertise, in fund raising, investment management, administrative services and fund operations.
“ASK handles administrative tasks for both investment companies and fund managers,” they explain. “Through our four service categories - Accounting, Calculation, Reporting, and Portal - we deliver business critical systems and know-how to a wide variety of GPs, family offices, and corporate ventures. Our clients range from established companies with complex structures to newer managers seeking guidance on the founding and administrative setup of their funds.”
Norway’s private markets carry a distinctive character. “There’s a high level of trust, relatively few conflicts, and generally positive relationships with regulators,” Jørgen notes. This culture of trust largely extends to financial governance and reporting expectations. While technological disruption in legal services has been limited, it also reflects confidence in conventional service structures and a measured adoption of new tech-solutions.
This trust also manifests in the way LPs engage with fund managers. “Norwegian LPs often rely quite comfortably on the competence and experience of their GPs,” the ASK team says. “That means fewer audits, less scrutiny of carry calculations, and a smoother operational flow overall. That trust is in most cases warranted, as the general level of operational expertise and administrative diligence is high.”
As in many jurisdiction, smaller teams face significant operational pressures. “Fund managers are searching for comprehensive solutions for a patchwork of administrative tasks,” Jørgen explains. “Managers looking to set up an effective tech-stack, have been forced to piece together multiple SaaS tools and service providers, with few specialized services and tech bundles available. Bundling tech and services have been a core strategy for us, because operational know-how is still a requisite for many of the administrative tasks, even with new cloud based administrative and reporting systems.”
ASK addresses this through pre-configured setups for a variety of investment vehicles. Their fund management package includes accounting services, regulatory and compliance reporting, corporate secretarial support, and investor services, all integrated with best-practice technology like qashqade. “We’re not a self-help solution,” Nils emphasizes. “We bring domain knowledge, hands-on experience, and a curated stack of tools to deliver a reliable and cost-effective service.”
Many Norwegian fund managers still rely on spreadsheets for allocation calculations in Norway, but they carry risks. “All managers we speak with use spreadsheets to some degree,” Jørgen notes. “Dual control mitigates errors, but spreadsheets depend on individual availability and mental acuity, and files are vulnerable to errors. As funds grow, these risks multiply.”
This is where qashqade comes in. Introduced to ASK by a client, the solution stood out for its rule-based methodology, which is carefully built from the original fund agreement. “It was clear right away that this would be a real value-add for our clients,” Jørgen explains. By automating calculations and adding an impartial layer, qashqade reduces the risk of human error while supporting lean administrative teams.
For funds with complexity in their fee and performance metrics or individualized high-watermarks, the system is particularly valuable. “It’s fast, reliable, and builds LP trust,” Nils adds. “The methodology we use when onboarding clients ensures every calculation is interpreted accurately, without compromising on transparency or governance.”
ASK has already seen the benefits in practice. One early client, an ambitious real-estate fund, pursued a lean administrative setup while growing steadily. “Having qashqade as part of our offering, has been key to keeping administrative costs minimal while scaling for them,” Jørgen notes. For start-up funds, integrating rule-based tools like this also helps avoid costly recruitment, letting small teams focus on core investment activities rather than manual spreadsheets handling.
The ASK team sees a gradual but steady evolution. “Fund operations, like other regulated sectors, are being improved slowly by cloud-based technology and service specific tools. Over time, we’ll see a best-practice stack emerge; leaner and more reliable than traditional setups,” they predict.
They also note that Norway’s appetite for digital solutions extends beyond funds: accounting, payroll, and board portals have already embraced cloud-based tools. ASK’s role is to curate and integrate these solutions to fit each client’s needs.
For firms still reliant on spreadsheets, ASK’s message is clear: embrace technology and structured processes early. “Set up meetings, explore the right tools, and consider tech-enabled experts like ASK,” Jørgen and Nils advise. “We’re passionate about building reliable administrative systems and love working with curious, forward-thinking fund managers. Helping new managers start their journey adds an extra layer of motivation for us.”
By combining service expertise with technology-driven solutions, ASK is helping Norwegian fund managers navigate growth, complexity, and operational risk. Looking ahead, the partnership between ASK and qashqade is well positioned to support the next phase of growth in Norwegian private markets, bringing structure, scalability, and confidence as funds evolve.
