Asset managers are sharply increasing their spending on AI, but bigger budgets aren't always translating into results. According to a new survey commissioned by Clearwater Analytics, firms with higher quality data are gaining the most when it comes to risk management, reporting, and analysis. 

Stronger data quality is a key determinant of whether firms realize meaningful benefits from their spending. Forty-four percent of the firms with good or excellent data accuracy say their risk management has become much more proactive, compared with only 17 percent of firms that rate their data as moderate or poor. “The firms generating the strongest operational outcomes are not necessarily the ones spending the most on AI, but the ones building on data they can trust,” Clearwater’s report said.

Sandeep Sahai, CEO of Clearwater, noted a clear trust gap with the tech: While 79 percent of firms call their data complete, only 56 percent call it accurate. He said that faster reporting, sharper risk oversight, and sound advice should build trust. 

“Budgets are up this year, but what is holding firms back is the quality of their data,” Sahai said. “Closing that gap is the real work of this next phase of AI.”

Almost all (95 percent) executives surveyed have increased their AI budgets in the past 12 months. Eighty-five percent plan to increase their budget by at least 50 percent in the year ahead, with 23 percent expecting it to at least double. 

The survey findings also show that AI is moving into core investment processes. Most of the respondents (95 percent) believe AI will be important for their organization to meet its investment management goals, with 3 percent considering it to be absolutely critical to their success. 

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Risk management is the function where AI is delivering the clearest returns, with 92 percent of firms saying their risk management has become more proactive (with 32 percent describing it as “much more proactive”). Predictive analytics capabilities have improved at 87 percent of firms, while regulatory reporting is also faster at 87 percent of responding firms. 

Clearwater commissioned PureProfile to survey 178 global asset managers in March 2026. Respondents include senior executives from insurance asset managers, hedge funds, private credit managers, and asset managers.