Welcome to the 6th edition of the KPMG Large-scale Management Companies (ManCos) and Alternative Investment Fund Managers (AIFMs) Survey.
Our findings reveal that 2026 marks the year of Intelligent Scaling, with the industry entering a new phase of maturity. As ManCos and AIFMs continue to grow in size and complexity, the focus is shifting from transformation planning to practical implementation.
*FTEs = Full-time equivalents
As ManCos and AIFMs continue to navigate an increasingly complex environment, scalability has become a strategic priority. Survey participants increasingly identify technology, AI, Group synergies and product innovation as the most effective ways to support future growth, while traditional outsourcing models are becoming less prominent. This marks a shift away from broad transformation programs towards more “sophisticated” levers that enable organizations to scale more efficiently.
The survey points to three interconnected drivers of scalability: cost optimization and consolidation, revenue diversification, and technology and AI as scalability enablers. Together, these themes suggest that the challenge facing organizations is no longer growth itself, but how to achieve growth without increasing operational complexity.
Product innovation is also emerging as an important growth lever, with respondents increasingly exploring new fund structures and product formats such as evergreen funds and tokenization initiatives.
Key scalability levers identified by survey participants
Rather than operating as standalone entities, many ManCos and AIFMs are positioning themselves within wider Group platforms (i.e. their broader corporate organization and affiliated entities) designed to support growth across multiple jurisdictions. Hub-and-spoke models allow organizations to leverage centralized expertise, shared services and broader Group capabilities while maintaining strong governance and oversight.
In these models, Luxembourg continues to play a key role. Respondents indicate that Luxembourg entities increasingly provide governance, oversight and specialized expertise while contributing to wider European fund platforms. 59% of respondents deliver ancillary services to their Group, while some are also expanding their reach by managing funds domiciled in other European jurisdictions, including Ireland (31%) and France (23%). This suggests that as operating models become more interconnected, Luxembourg's role is evolving from operational execution towards coordination, oversight and strategic leadership.
Across the industry, AI is moving from exploration to practical use. All respondents report using AI, although adoption remains uneven across use cases, bringing several important considerations to the foreground:
As a result, many organizations are prioritizing centralized data platforms, workflow simplification, onboarding automation and enhanced management information capabilities. These investments are helping organizations build the foundations required for more scalable operating models and future AI deployment.
AI use cases observed
These findings suggest that the next phase of industry evolution will be defined less by expansion alone and more by how effectively organizations can scale. Whether through technology, Group operating models or product innovation, ManCos and AIFMs are increasingly focused on building operating models that support sustainable growth while maintaining governance, oversight and operational efficiency.
