The Asset Management Council has released The State of Asset Management Sector Report for 2026, which captures the priorities, pressure points and opportunities shaping the profession across Australia.
Drawing on responses from AM Council members and the wider professional community, the report looks beyond technical practice to ask what asset management professionals are dealing with now, what is getting in their way and where they believe the profession is heading.
The result is a grounded view of a profession that is highly committed to its work, alert to rapid change and clear about the organisational conditions needed to deliver value.
rank digitisation and AI as the top trend shaping asset management
name leadership and executive buy-in as their biggest bottleneck
(less than half)
say their asset management data is integrated with their organisation’s finance system
The story these ten insights tell is a consistent one. This is a profession that knows its own worth and can prove it, yet keeps hitting the same constraint around permissions. The biggest obstacles found are: