Some 85% of asset management firms globally expect to increase their AI budgets by at least 50% over the next 12 months, according to a study conducted by Clearwater Analytics.
The survey, which comprises 178 senior asset management executives in the sector across Europe, the US and Asia, also found 95% of managers have already raised their budgets over the past year.
More than 60% of those surveyed expect AI to transform how their company utilises data – in particular how they condense complex data into short summaries, and standardise any written outputs.
See also: Memories of tech bubble rise as AI stocks sell off
Elsewhere, 57% of respondents believe AI will reshape how they analyse past data to forecast future outcomes and stress-test hypothetical scenarios, while 58% think AI will transform portfolio rebalancing via decision support systems based on specific objectives.
Two thirds of fund managers say the AI tools they already have in place are “effective at managing the unique challenges of alternative data”, according to the report, while 70% say their current use of AI has increased their focus on data management.
That being said, only 56% of asset management firms said their data is reliably accurate, which contrasts with 79% respondents describing their data as “complete”.
Some 12-18% of asset managers also expect “minor or little impact” in some aspects of their companies including software delivery and workflow coordination. The report states this divergence suggests that “while the technology is ready, the internal infrastructure and cultural readiness of firms vary significantly”.
Souvik Das, CTO of Clearwater Analytics, added that AI is “sharpening firms’ attention on their data”, but “has not yet solved the trust problem underneath it”.
“What’s striking is that AI adoption is forcing fund managers to confront the fundamentals of data management in a way nothing else has,” he said.
“The confidence we see in managing alternative data is particularly telling. It suggests that firms which invest in AI are also the ones investing hardest in getting their data right, and that the two have to move together. This is a fundamental shift in the industry’s awareness of complexity.”
See also: Global active ETF assets increase by more than a third in 2026
He explained that asset managers have moved beyond simply being curious about AI.
“They are deploying it to solve the most labour-intensive aspects of asset management. By automating the heavy lifting of data synthesis and scenario modeling, firms are reclaiming thousands of hours that can now be redirected toward alpha-generating activities.”
