Northern Trust’s report entitled Driving Growth in Asset Management is based on a survey of 300 CEOs, CIOs, operations directors and similar leaders at asset management firms across North America, EMEA and APAC . Conducted this spring by InvestOps Insights for Northern Trust, the study examines how asset managers’ strategies have changed since 2024 amid market volatility, fee pressure, operational complexity and the emergence of AI.

The study found that asset managers who are prioritizing product expansion fell to 47 per cent from 60 per cent two years earlier, while product reduction as a priority rose from 5 per cent to 28 per cent of respondents.

Managers who are planning to achieve priorities by outsourcing non-core activities more than doubled, rising from 18 per cent in 2024 to 39 per cent in 2026, the study shows.

Offshoring emerged as the leading cost-control measure, cited by 69 per cent of respondents, while outsourcing non-core activities rose to 42 per cent.

Every respondent reported deploying AI in some form, led by use cases in data accuracy and quality control, document management and research. More than half of respondents also plan to target new client types and expand into new global markets to support growth.

"Asset managers are pursuing growth with greater discipline and a sharper focus on the areas where they can differentiate," said Ryan Burns, head of Asset Managers and Private Markets, Americas at Northern Trust. "Rather than pursuing broad-based expansion, firms are directing resources toward investment expertise, client outcomes and distribution, while extending successful strategies through vehicles such as ETFs, semi-liquid funds and collective investment trusts."

The firm said outsourcing has become an increasingly important component of asset managers' operating models. As firms contend with cost pressures and rising complexity, respondents reported greater reliance on outsourcing to streamline operations, access specialized capabilities and support long-term scalability.

"Managers are doing more with fewer, more strategic partners," said Angelo Calvitto, head of Asia Pacific at Northern Trust. "The goal is not only lower cost, but a more straightforward operating model with stronger control, better quality and the scale to support future growth."

The survey also highlighted the growing importance of data, analytics, and investment decision support. Nearly half of respondents identified consolidating data from multiple sources as their biggest data challenge, while sourcing and aggregating investment analytics emerged as the leading challenge facing front-office teams. Against that backdrop, every respondent reported using AI in some capacity, underscoring the industry's focus on improving decision-making and operational effectiveness through technology.

"AI is moving from experimentation to implementation across the industry," said Nick Gilbert, head of Asset Servicing, EMEA at Northern Trust. "But its value will depend on the quality, governance and accessibility of the data beneath it. This is not just a technology issue; it is an operating model and resilience issue."

Northern Trust, a provider of wealth management, asset servicing, and asset management, has offices in 24 US states and Washington, and across 22 locations in Canada, Europe, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific, with assets under management of $2 trillion.