Wealth and asset management firms want to better leverage AI and analytics. How do you get started?
- Wealth and asset management firms are exploring AI and analytics tools to make better use of their data, manage clients across a range of services, automate routine tasks, improve client results and drive growth.
- While the barriers to entry are often lower than in years past, wealth management firms typically lack the internal capacity to fully implement an effective data governance program and identify which AI and analytics tools will solve their specific business problems. Firms will benefit from a clear strategy and working with an external advisory firm to guide this process.
- C-suite level buy-in is a crucial factor in whether an effort to upgrade your AI and analytics capacities will succeed, as firms where the CEO serves as champion of this effort often see better outcomes.
Wealth and asset management firms are increasingly open to using AI and advanced analytics tools to drive growth. Roughly 90% of executives surveyed in Wipfli’s wealth management industry and asset management industry research reports stated that they were implementing or exploring AI solutions, with most also expressing excitement around boosting analytics capacities as well.
However, only about one-third of responding firms had actually achieved a high level of AI usage, with the rest of the pack still lacking sophisticated AI capabilities. So how can leaders help their businesses to bridge this gap?
Keep reading to find out.
Why are more wealth and asset management firms exploring AI and analytics solutions?
Think of your data as an asset. For wealth and asset management firms looking to grow, managing that asset and making it available in a form that benefits staff and clients should be a top priority.
Well-managed and governed data delivered simply and clearly can help unlock new growth opportunities with both existing and potential clients.
But unlike stocks or bonds, which can passively generate value, data needs to be actively managed and worked with in order to create returns. So how do you do that?
Firms are looking to tech to solve a range of challenges
The specific challenges here vary depending on the size of your firm. Smaller firms have relatively simple data objectives, primarily looking for tools to help manage accounts and track investment performance.
Meanwhile, larger firms often face additional problems like managing clients across a wide array of services, as those services may operate based on different systems or platforms that may not be set up to share data with each other. This situation is often made even more complicated for wealth or asset managers that operate as part of a larger financial institution like a bank.
Too often, firms of all sizes also continue to struggle with data governance or even simply organizing their data. Many still rely on outdated policies and spreadsheet-driven processes that eat up time and may risk human error.
As a result, wealth and asset management executives are increasingly open to new AI and analytics capacities, which can give your firm the ability to get more value from your data. Let’s explore what that looks like.
What benefits do better AI and analytics solutions deliver for wealth management firms?
Properly implementing modern AI and analytics solutions helps wealth and asset managers to operate more efficiently and deliver stronger results. Managers can gain greater insights into trends, analyze historical patterns and lean on more accurate forecasting to better serve their clients.
Here are some more in-depth benefits to consider:
- Learn more from your clients: Use dashboards and AI to analyze your client data to identify patterns, trends and other learnings that you can bring to your meetings with individual investors. This can help you better understand client needs at different life stages, like when purchasing a home, starting a family or preparing for retirement.
- Automate routine tasks: Spending hours painstakingly inputting numbers into spreadsheets doesn’t just take up time but also risks data-entry errors. Automating this sort of rote work can quickly free up your team for higher-level tasks.
- Lower barriers to entry: Newer AI and analytics tools can deliver a certain level of insight even if your data is not perfectly structured, although the quality of inputs still determines the quality of outputs. As these tools are typically built into existing apps, you also don’t need developer skills in order to implement them.
- Stronger FP&A analysis: In addition to using AI to provide forecasting models for your clients, your team will be able to perform stronger financial planning and analysis (FP&A) on your own business as well. This can help you set financial targets, monitor KPIs and model how moves like an M&A could play out.
How do wealth and asset management firms begin improving their AI and analytics capabilities?
You’re the CEO or CFO of a wealth management firm who’s eager to improve your firm's AI and analytics capabilities. So how do you get started?
Here are five key action steps to take:
1. Champion your firm’s AI, analytics and data governance program
You don’t have to become an AI expert. But you can help a lot by simply being the champion for upgrading your firm’s AI and analytics capacities.
You’ll need an effective data governance program to oversee your data management and implement new AI and analytics tools. That’s the sort of program that often doesn’t get taken seriously without clear C-suite buy-in, so executive support is crucial here.
2. Leverage an external advisor
With the world of tech changing at shocking speed, it’s likely that no one on your team has the requisite knowledge to develop a more effective data governance structure, choose new AI and analytics tools and implement them within your business. That’s OK.
What you can do is turn to an outside advisory firm for support. Look for an advisor who understands both tech and the financial services industry. You need someone who knows both AI and the specific requirements of wealth and asset managers, from an operational, client-facing and regulatory perspective.
3. Assess your firm’s specific needs
Work with your advisor to assess your firm’s specific needs around data, analytics and automation. Find the gaps in your current systems and processes that better AI and analytics tools can help you fill and then develop an AI roadmap to help you think through your implementation process.
This sort of approach will help you get much more effective results than you’d see from simply buying everyone on your team a Copilot license without a plan in place.
4. Focus on targeted upgrades and set appropriate expectations
You don’t have to suddenly become the most tech-savvy firm on the planet. Instead, focus on implementing targeted upgrades that will provide solutions to specific problems that your business faces.
For example, you can accomplish a fair amount by properly using even basic AI tools, although you can’t expect, say, sophisticated forecasting without a proper data governance structure in place. Over time, you can build towards that latter, as well as more cutting-edge tools like AI agents that can automate large chunks of routine tasks.
5. Think in terms of relationships
Wealth and asset management is a relationship business. You’re often not just managing money for the client named on the account, but their unnamed family members as well, and your relationships will often determine client longevity and even potentially create new business.
So as you work to implement new technology, consider how new solutions can help you strengthen your relationships with clients (as well as your corporate partners). There’s no one right answer here, but this question should be a prominent one as you discuss your data and AI strategy and decide where to prioritize your efforts.
Learn more about how wealth and asset management are adapting in 2026
How are wealth and asset management firms evolving to meet the changing demands of the sector? Wipfli interviewed 249 wealth and asset management executives to find out.
Read the complete 2026 research reports to discover how leaders are approaching growth, AI, cybersecurity and more.
Wealth management industry report
Asset management industry report
How Wipfli can help
We help wealth and asset management firms improve performance. Let’s talk about your goals and whether strategies like improved AI and analytics solutions can help you achieve them. Start a conversation.
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