Jamie is the founder and CEO of FundSense. He has over 25 years´ experience in financial services, holding senior sales positions at both Standard and Poor´s and Morningstar, where he managed global relationships with tier one banks and asset managers. Before setting up FundSense in 2020, Jamie was Head of UK for German wealthtech firm aixigo.
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Despite more than a decade of digital transformation, one legacy tool continues to underpin operations across much of the asset management industry: the spreadsheet.
It’s familiar, flexible, and increasingly, a barrier to progress.
In a business where operational precision and speed directly impact performance, relying on manual workarounds and fragmented systems is no longer just inefficient; it’s risky. From fund launches to regulatory reporting, critical processes are still being propped up by tools never built for enterprise-grade scale, governance, or control.
This challenge isn’t born of inertia, but of fragmentation.
Over the years, the ecosystem has evolved into a patchwork of specialist providers, rich in data, research, and analytics, yet limited in workflow automation and integration capabilities. On the other side sit large-scale automation platforms, offering robust tools but lacking the domain-specific alignment needed to navigate the nuances of asset management.
The result? Projects stall. Automation hits walls. Not because the technology isn’t capable, but because it often lacks an embedded understanding of the industry’s complexity—its regulatory layers, its templates, its subtle rules.
The challenge isn’t building automation—it’s making it meaningful. Unless you understand how the industry actually works, all you’re doing is adding new tools to old problems.
The path forward lies not in sweeping disruption but in strategic augmentation. The most effective operational models are now those that reduce friction rather than increase it. They enhance what already works, eliminate what doesn’t, and bridge the gaps that legacy tools like spreadsheets have long attempted to paper over.
This shift toward smarter connections and modular, interoperable systems is redefining best practice. Whether it’s integrating with a product master, streamlining share class launches, or enabling parallel task execution across departments, the emphasis is on systems that work with—not against—the unique shape of asset management workflows.
A key enabler of this evolution is domain expertise. Technology alone isn’t enough. Effective transformation requires a granular understanding of how asset managers function—from business rule hierarchies to compliance constraints and data standards. Without that insight, automation is superficial at best.
True integration also means embracing the formats and realities of everyday operations. PDFs, CSVs, APIs, Word documents—modern solutions must ingest and standardise data from a multitude of sources, not just a single proprietary feed. And they must do so at enterprise scale, often across ten or more internal and external systems.
But perhaps the most entrenched obstacle is cultural: the spreadsheet as default. Used for everything from lifecycle management to reporting, spreadsheets are inherently difficult to govern, audit, or scale. They may offer short-term flexibility, but at the cost of long-term resilience.
The cultural shift away from spreadsheets isn't just about tools; it’s about trust. Spreadsheets offer control in a visible, hands-on format. Moving toward automated, integrated systems requires stakeholders—especially those in operations, compliance, and IT—to place their trust in data flows they can’t “see” in the same way.
For this reason, adoption is as much a behavioural challenge as it is a technological one.
Successful transformation starts with identifying where trust already exists—in people, processes, or partial systems—and building from there. This is why modular solutions that align with current workflows tend to gain traction more quickly than full-system overhauls. It allows teams to see immediate gains in efficiency and accuracy without requiring them to abandon what they already know.
This approach also brings clarity to the long-term strategy: create a flexible infrastructure that grows with the firm. Operational leaders are no longer looking for single-use tools. They’re seeking platforms that can adapt over time, integrate new data sources, align with emerging regulations, and provide a clear audit trail across every phase of the product lifecycle.
What’s emerging is a more intelligent operational layer—one that connects teams, standardises inputs, and unlocks real-time insights that were previously buried in disconnected systems or scattered spreadsheets. And while many firms are still somewhere along this transition curve, the direction of travel is clear.
Enterprise-wide alignment is becoming the new gold standard.
This means collapsing silos between teams—product, compliance, distribution, data—and eliminating duplicated efforts. It means ensuring that approved data points don’t need to be re-keyed by different teams for different uses. It means surfacing critical information not just faster, but more completely and reliably. It’s a shift from task-based efficiency to systemic intelligence.
For firms still navigating the early stages of change, there’s good news: this isn’t about tearing everything down and starting over. It’s about understanding the difference between what’s legacy and what’s lasting—and building a bridge between the two.
Efficiency is no longer about local gains—it’s about aligning the entire business. It’s not about replacing people or departments—it’s about removing the friction between them.
Looking ahead, the pace of transformation is only accelerating. Regulatory pressures continue to intensify. Investor demands for transparency and agility are growing. And the sheer volume of data—operational, market, and client-facing—is stretching traditional systems to breaking point.
In this environment, firms that cling to outdated tools will increasingly find themselves at a disadvantage. Not just in terms of cost or compliance risk, but in their ability to respond, adapt, and compete.
Meanwhile, those investing in smarter processes—interconnected, informed by domain expertise, and built for change—are laying the groundwork for something far more enduring.
Because in the end, the future of asset management operations isn’t about disruption for its own sake. It’s about smarter connections, better processes, and letting go of the tools that no longer serve. In that sense, moving beyond spreadsheets isn’t just an operational fix—it’s a strategic evolution.
