Wealth and asset management leaders call cybersecurity a major threat. How should they tackle it?

Tom Wojcinski

Jan 20, 2026

7 min read

Key takeaways

Roughly two-thirds of executives at wealth and asset management firms state that cybersecurity is a top concern, but many remain unsure of how to effectively improve their cybersecurity posture.
Firms that lack up-to-date cyber defenses are vulnerable to a major attack, reputational damage and scrutiny from federal regulators at the SEC, while those that maintain a more aggressive cybersecurity posture can mitigate both their risk of attack and the potential for associated reputational harm.
Work with an advisory firm to assess gaps in your current systems, implement security upgrades and run tabletop exercises to train your team in critical incident response, which can help you limit your exposure and avoid cyber-related barriers to growth.

Leaders at wealth and asset management firms increasingly view cybersecurity as a top priority. In a recent survey of 249 industry executives, 68% of asset managers and 62% of wealth managers surveyed by Wipfli stated that cybersecurity is a major concern for their businesses in 2026.

But how should firms and registered investment advisors (RIAs) actually take action to bolster their cybersecurity defenses? Keep reading to learn more about key security challenges facing the wealth and asset management sector, plus specific tools like tabletop exercises that firms can use to reduce their risk and respond more effectively to attacks.

What are the major cybersecurity risks that wealth and asset management firms are facing today?

In addition to the ever-present possibility of a cyberattack or data breach, wealth and asset management firms face an array of related risks. These include action from government regulators at the SEC, fraud and reputational damages resulting from a successful cyberattack.

Here’s some more insight into the major cybersecurity and downstream risks for the wealth and asset management sector:

Large-scale cyberattack: So far, the wealth and asset management industry has avoided any headline-grabbing cyberattacks. Still, the threat remains real, and firms also continue to be exposed to lower-level attacks that can cause harm and financial damage without breaching core systems.
Reputational damage: Wealth and asset management is built on reputation. A significant attack carries major reputational risk, especially for smaller or mid-sized firms that have built their business on relationships rather than on a national profile that’s big enough to survive a breach.
Individual payment fraud: Fraud, specifically around payouts, is a client risk area that firms should pay close attention to. For example, a client selling an investment could be tricked into sending the funds to a fraudster’s account rather than their own bank account.
Regulatory action: SEC regulators overseeing registered investment advisors have been showing increasing concern over cybersecurity in the wealth and asset management sector, with regulators cracking down during examinations. Executives want to avoid trouble here, although some report frustrations with current SEC cybersecurity standards.

How do wealth and asset management firms benefit from a stronger cybersecurity posture?

Improved cybersecurity helps wealth and asset managers mitigate financial damages and potential liability, as well as avoid reputational harm. Firms also benefit from the ability to qualify for cybersecurity insurance and see other positive downstream effects from security planning like tabletop exercises.

Mitigate financial damages and liability

No cybersecurity system is foolproof. However, keeping your defenses up to date can significantly mitigate your risks by making you both less vulnerable to an attack and better able to quickly respond should a breach occur.

This can help limit the financial damages you suffer during even a successful attack. Plus, stronger defenses and a faster response time can also help reduce your exposure to liability.

Avoid reputational harm

Most wealth advisors don’t have huge brands, so word-of-mouth reputation is a priceless asset. And nobody wants to be the firm that’s got everyone buzzing over client data that’s turned up on the dark web.

Mid-sized firms in the $1 to $5 billion range face an especially high risk of being targeted for an attack, because they have enough assets to be a tempting target but typically lack the most advanced cybersecurity tools deployed by their larger competitors. Leaders at these firms should consider cyber an essential investment in their reputations — and consequently, in their growth opportunities.

Qualify for cybersecurity insurance

In the event of a data breach, cybersecurity insurance can help you significantly reduce your losses. But unless your business already has a strong cybersecurity posture, insurers won’t write you a policy.

Incident response preparation

Tabletop exercises and other scenario planning activities are a key aspect of bolstering your cybersecurity defenses. But these don’t just pay off by helping you feel more prepared to quickly respond to a data breach, but by helping your team feel more confident in responding to any number of crisis scenarios that could occur.

Tabletop exercises: a key cybersecurity tool for wealth and asset management firms

A tabletop exercise helps you and your team plan and practice how you will respond to a cybersecurity attack or critical incident. During the tabletop, you’ll be able to game out various scenarios to figure out what to do in the event of each.

For example, let’s consider two different variations on a data breach. In the first, you accidentally expose sensitive client information in an email to a third party, while the second is a significant breach of your systems by a hacker.

Both of these are cybersecurity incidents, but you would need to respond to each scenario quite differently. During a tabletop exercise, you would work through planning considerations like:

How do you evaluate the impact of an incident?
Who gets notified and when?
Who handles the security response?
How do you manage public relations and external comms?

You want to have answers to all of these questions and more before you’re facing an incident, rather than trying to make up a response plan in the heat of the moment. And crucially, this planning process will also help prepare you for other incidents that may have nothing to do with cybersecurity but would still require an urgent response from your business.

How should wealth and asset management executives take action to improve their cybersecurity defenses?

CEOs, CFOs and chief compliance officers at wealth and asset management firms need to take an active role in bolstering their companies’ cyber defenses. Here are four key steps to take:

1. Reframe how you think about cyber

It’s easy to view cyber as a cost center. But given the danger an attack poses to your reputation, it’s actually an investment in growth. If nothing comes up when potential clients google your firm and “cyberattack”, you’ll be better positioned to take on new business.

2. Leverage advisory support

The vast majority of wealth management firms don’t have a large in-house IT team, let alone deep cybersecurity expertise. So lean on an advisory firm for help.

Your advisor can help you understand the current threat environment, recommend improvements and work with your team to upgrade your systems, policies and processes to leave you more protected and better able to respond to an incident. Look for an advisor that knows both cybersecurity and the financial services sector, as you’ll need to navigate specific challenges like SEC compliance requirements.

3. Test your current cyber defenses to identify areas for improvement

Work with your advisor to do penetration testing, social engineering tests, ransomware attack simulations and other exercises to find gaps or vulnerabilities in your current defenses.

This process should also include a review of your policies and processes around data governance, access and other potential problem areas in your daily operations. Your advisor will be able to make specific recommendations and help you create a roadmap to implement any necessary changes.

4. Implement improvements and training

After assessing your existing security gaps and creating a cybersecurity improvement roadmap, start putting it into action. Your advisor can help you upgrade your systems when needed, which may include elements like transitioning from in-house servers to cloud-based data storage.

Training and policy changes are also key here. You’ll want to conduct tabletop exercises to train your team and develop your incident response plan. This should be part of a broader effort to update your policies and procedures to help ensure a stronger overall security posture.

2026 industry research reports: Learn how wealth and asset management is adapting to today’s challenges

How are wealth and asset management leaders evolving to address the needs of today’s market? Wipfli spoke with 249 executives to understand the key challenges firms face in areas like growth, technology and risk management.

Read the full wealth and asset management industry reports:

Wealth management industry report

Asset management industry report

How Wipfli can help

We help wealth and asset management firms improve performance, strengthen cybersecurity and grow. Let’s talk about your goals and how we can help you achieve them. Start a conversation with our wealth management or asset management business advisory team.