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Why are firms outsourcing their services? The list of reasons continues to grow, as it is no longer mainly about saving money. Instead, it has transitioned as a way for firms to modernise how they run their businesses and stay competitive, writes Sarva Srinivasan, Global Head of Strategies at NeoXam Americas.
Asset Managers and service providers are dealing with a far more complex world of regulation, technology and data than in the past. Old systems and traditional outsourcing models, built for simpler times, are no longer good enough.
For decades, outsourcing across all industries has been synonymous with trimming the back office, streamlining headcount, and delegating so-called non-core processes to third parties. But in the world of finance, the ground is well and truly shifting. As the Asset Management and servicing industries face mounting multi-asset-driven data challenges, outsourcing must evolve from a cost-cutting exercise into a growth enabler.
Today’s outsourcing partnerships are no longer about doing the same work for less. On the contrary – they’re about doing it smarter, faster, and more transparently. The new outsourcing playbook is being rewritten around data integrity, Regulatory readiness, and Intelligent Automation, with AI as a prime catalyst.
Asset Managers and servicers are now operating in a world defined by multi-GAAP accounting, cross-border portfolios, and multi-asset integration. Legacy systems, designed for single-asset, single-jurisdiction environments, struggle to cope with this new complexity. Outsourcing needs to provide the ability to connect these fragmented environments – not just through process delegation, but through shared data infrastructures that enable real-time insights across portfolios.
The goal is no longer operational relief – it’s total portfolio visibility. The ability to see across public and private assets, reconcile data from multiple custodians and administrators, and derive risk and performance insights from a single, consistent data set has become a competitive advantage. Outsourcing partners will need to provide increased transparency and governance to ensure they become extensions of their clients’ strategic architecture.
Regulatory pressures are also amplifying this transformation. The upcoming European Single Access Point (ESAP), enforced by ESMA, will fundamentally change how financial and non-financial entities report Sustainability and Accounting Data across Europe. Starting in 2026, firms will be required to submit information through new collection bodies, creating operational and data-quality challenges for both Asset Servicers and Asset Owners.
Providers need to be equipped to manage the integration, validation, and delivery of Regulatory Data without imposing new Reporting burdens on their clients, enabling them to stay compliant while retaining focus on their investment strategies.
Artificial Intelligence is adding another layer of disruption. From data acquisition to Reconciliation to anomaly detection and reporting, AI-driven Automation is reshaping how data is gathered, processed, verified, and analysed. Yet AI brings risk as well as efficiency. This is why governance, bias, and model validation are front-of-mind for regulators. Forward-looking outsourcing models embed AI responsibly, ensuring transparency, explainability, and alignment with evolving European AI regulations.
In this new era, outsourcing is no longer a story about cost. It is about the ability to adapt to Regulatory shifts, manage complex data landscapes, and deploy technology at scale while retaining the domain skills critical to efficient delivery. The winners will be those who see outsourcing not as a relinquishment of control, but as a route to greater insight and agility – transforming it from a Back-Office necessity into a front-line catalyst for growth, innovation, and differentiation.
