Infrastructure moves up the strategic agenda as asset managers confront margin pressure

NEW YORK, Nov. 2, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Infrastructure is moving from the back office to the centre of asset managers' strategy. With profit per AuM down 19% since 2018 and projected to fall another 9.1% by 2030, decisions about which capabilities to build, buy or access through partners now shape how firms compete, according to PwC's Global Asset Management Infrastructure: Rethinking the industry's piping report.

Drawing on insights from 150 asset managers and 50 infrastructure providers, the report finds that globally, 24% cite data fragmentation and 17% legacy systems as major barriers to scaling AI. In North America, data fragmentation is the leading barrier for 26%, with 21% pointing to the lack of unified or real-time data pipelines.

Roland Kastoun, Global Asset and Wealth Management Advisory Leader, PwC, notes: "The industry's profits per dollar managed have fallen by almost a fifth, and the bill for the pipes keeps rising. The managers who survive the next five years won't be the ones with the flashiest AI, but rather the ones who fixed the so-called boring stuff first."

The infrastructure layer is also becoming a competitive arena with some 70% of providers expecting a larger share of the asset management revenue pool, including 55% of North American providers anticipating moderate growth, while 68% name hyperscale cloud providers as the main emerging threat.

"Infrastructure has quietly become one of the most consequential strategic decisions an asset manager makes. The firms that pull ahead won't be those that own the most technology, but those that decide deliberately what to build, what to buy and where a partner can do it better," said Peter Pollini, Financial Services Industry Leader, PwC US.

PwC finds that 44% of asset managers favour hybrid sourcing models that combine in-house, bought and partnered capabilities. This rises to 46% in North America, where 18% prefer to partner and 16% to build in-house.

The report identifies four emerging infrastructure archetypes, namely infrastructure orchestrators, digital and tokenisation platforms, specialist modular providers and integrated asset managers. The conclusion is that no single model fits every firm. Firms need to decide which capabilities to own, which can be standardised and where a specialist provider can do the job better. Those who decide early will be better placed to manage costs and protect margins through 2030.

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SOURCE PwC Luxembourg