Asia-Pacific wealth managers are advancing digital transformation with a strategic focus on compliance, product innovation, and modernization. Compliance and regulatory demands lead as the top driver of IT strategy (30%), followed by product and proposition innovation (27%) and legacy modernization (16%). Firms across the region are working to balance regulatory assurance with the need to refresh core platforms and deliver differentiated, client-centric offerings.
IT budgets continue to expand, reflecting sustained transformation rather than maintenance. Regional technology spending grew approximately 5% in 2024 and is forecast to rise 5.3% in 2025 and 5% in 2026. More than half of all investment now targets change-the-business initiatives, with momentum strongest in Australia, India, and Singapore.
Front-office digitization and personalization remain central to IT strategy. Roughly one-third of technology budgets are allocated to client-facing and advisor-led functions such as onboarding, client acquisition, and advisor and client portals. Personalization is a top priority for the majority of executives, underscoring APAC’s drive to deliver scalable, digital client journeys for both mass-affluent and emerging segments.
AI adoption is broadening and moving toward production, supported by investment in cloud and digital identity infrastructure. Eighty percent of firms are live, piloting, or experimenting with generative AI, with active use cases in synthetic data generation, content creation, and data analytics. AI deployment is strongest in client acquisition (50%) and portfolio management (34%), while technology priorities center on digital identity (34%), cloud adoption (29%), and public cloud migration (27%). Barriers to scaling GenAI include technology immaturity (53%) and regulatory uncertainty (49%), highlighting the region’s pragmatic but progressive approach to innovation.
As APAC wealth managers continue to modernize, the emphasis is shifting from compliance-driven transformation to intelligent, client-focused growth - where trust, personalization, and digital enablement define competitive advantage.
