Perhaps inevitably, the topic of AI looms large in this survey of wealth and asset management preoccupations by PwC.

Global assets under management in the world’s wealth and asset management sector will reach $171 trillion by 2028, a 5.9 compound annual growth rate, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers.

And the accountancy and professional services group, polling 264 asset managers and 257 institutional investors from across 28 countries, also showed that 73 per cent of those it surveyed say AI will be the most transformational technology over the next two to three years. 

The details come in the PwC 2024 Asset & Wealth Management Report.

“Disruptive technologies such as AI are transforming the asset and wealth management industry and fuelling revenue growth, productivity and efficiency,” Albertha Charles, Global Asset & Wealth Management Leader, PwC UK, said.

The report found that 81 per cent of firms surveyed are contemplating strategic partnerships, consolidations, or mergers and acquisitions to enhance technological capabilities and build an “extended tech ecosystem.” Four-fifths (80 per cent) of firms say that technologies such as AI will fuel revenue growth, with those moving quickly to adopt “tech-as-a-service” potentially seeing a 12 per cent boost to revenues by 2028.

Elsewhere, PwC found that skills are in high demand: 73 per cent of asset managers considering mergers and acquisitions see access to skilled expertise as the number one driver of deal-making over next two to three years, yet 30 per cent also say they lack relevant skills and talent.

Mind the gap
For all the talk about the promise of AI and other technologies, the PwC report found that there is a gap between what firms see as opportunities, and what they actually spend. More than three-fifths (68 per cent) say that they allocate less than one-sixth of their capital to innovative and potentially transformative technologies, with more than half (59 per cent) of institutional investors noting that such technologies could reduce their reliance on asset managers. 

The report said 20 per cent of wealth and asset managers use disruptive tech to enhance personalised investment advisory.