AI emerges as a top strategic priority for asset owners
Key Highlights
- ➤AI is top priority for 67% of surveyed global asset owners
- ➤Technology’s investment-outcome contribution expected to rise from 17% to 30%
- ➤Data quality and standardization constrain AI adoption for three-quarters of participants
- ➤Only 25% of asset owners make AI a standing board agenda item
- ➤Study covers 20 asset owners managing more than US$5 trillion combined
Expert Statements
Roger Urwin, Co-founder of the Thinking Ahead Institute
“Asset owners are still at an early stage of the AI adoption curve but there is no question about the increasingly important role AI will play in the future. Technology’s influence on asset owner outcomes is set to increase substantially, but this is not simply about installing more tools. AI is changing how investment organizations structure work, make decisions and govern risk. AI is becoming an organizational story rather than a technology story. The opportunity is immense, but so is the challenge. Asset owners are trying to shape their AI future at the very moment AI is reshaping theirs.”
Linda-Eling Lee, Founding director and head of the MSCI Institute
“AI gives asset owners an opportunity to rethink not just how they use technology but the investment process itself. Data will be central to that transition, but so will human judgment, governance and the ability to connect investment and technology teams. The opportunity lies in bringing these elements together to support better investment decisions and stronger long-term outcomes.”
NEW YORK, Oct. 15, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Artificial Intelligence (AI), including the use of agentic tools, has become the top strategic priority for global asset owners, cited by 67% of participants disclosing data for this measure in a new study from leading global advisory, broking and solutions company WTW’s (NASDAQ: WTW) Thinking Ahead Institute in partnership with MSCI Institute. It ranks ahead of factors such as adapting to a higher inflationary environment at 44%, managing liquidity pressures at 33% and responding to the growing role of private markets at 28%.
The Global Asset Owner Technology Peer Study 2026 draws on research with 20 global asset owners responsible for more than US$5 trillion in combined assets. The study suggests that the strategic debate around AI is largely settled, with all funds agreeing on the importance of its role in the future.
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