73% of respondents expect transformation investment to increase, while 62% cite margin compression or cost efficiency as a key long-term driver. At the same time, only 40% are optimistic or very optimistic about Swiss asset management competitiveness.  

This suggests that transformation is becoming a strategic necessity. Firms are responding to tougher economics, cost pressure, and the need to build more scalable operating models.  

The top reported transformation budget areas for 2026 are operations modernization at 61%, investment process enhancement at 55%, and IT and data infrastructure at 51%.  

Client digitization follows at 39%, while product innovation and development is cited by 13%. These findings suggest that firms are focusing first on the operating and investment backbone. Before transformation becomes visible to clients, it has to work in the core.  

The Barometer shows that 48% of senior leadership respondents select core platform modernization as a primary transformation theme, while 51% expect technology and data spend to be medium to high in 2026.    

Yet the current platform landscape remains fragmented. Only 25% report one main enterprise platform scaled across the firm, while 60% report two or more large platforms or one primary system per function.    

This creates a clear execution challenge. Platform modernization is not only about selecting or implementing systems. It is about creating the integrated foundation needed to scale AI, automation, and front-to-back transformation.  

The leading current AI use case is investment research at 63%, followed by operations automation at 41% and portfolio construction and optimization at 33%.    

However, the path to scale remains constrained. Respondents cite legacy systems or fragmented data at 54%, funding or budget constraints at 50%, and talent or skill gaps at 30%.  

AI can create competitive advantage, but only when firms have the data, systems, budget, and skills required to scale adoption.  

The Barometer shows that 63% report moderate operating model changes completed in the last year, while 18% cite a complete front-to-back redesign.    

However, automation maturity remains early. 73% report limited or structured automation, while only 11% report end-to-end automation utilization.    

This suggests that many firms have started to redesign how work gets done, but the larger efficiency opportunity still lies ahead. Real gains will come when firms industrialize automation across core processes.  

The Barometer shows that 50% of respondents say transformation is driven by business leadership, while 31% point to joint business and technology leadership.    

Technology leadership accounts for 11%, and external or other leadership accounts for 7%.  Ownership alone does not ensure outcomes. Only 28% report strong or excellent collaboration, while 58% attribute successful value delivery to effective collaboration.    

This makes collaboration one of the clearest execution signals in the survey. Business may own the agenda, but collaboration determines whether transformation creates value at scale.  

The top domains of current product innovation activity are thematic strategies at 52%, private markets at 40%, and ESG or sustainable finance at 36%. Tokenization and digital assets remain visible but less central, at 9%.    

Expected growth areas point to a broader product agenda. Passive strategies and ETFs lead at 43%, followed by private markets at 29%, thematic strategies at 27%, active ETFs at 26%, and ESG at 6%.    

This suggests that firms will need flexible product platforms and operating models that can support a wider range of strategies, wrappers, client needs, and distribution models.