White Papers and Reports

The Fund Industry at a Turning Point

By Oded Weiss, CEO, Multifonds

What is reshaping fund operations? Talent shortages, the growth of ETFs and private assets, and the integration of AI, cloud and digital assets are converging at the same time. Oded Weiss, CEO of Multifonds, explains what this means for fund administrators, asset servicers and the operating models behind them.

Key takeaways

• Talent is becoming a structural constraint: automation must improve operational resilience, not just efficiency.
• ETFs and private assets are increasing product and valuation complexity, putting pressure on siloed operating models.
• AI, cloud, blockchain and digital assets create value only when they are integrated into accounting, data and control workflows.
• Firms need coherent platforms and operating models that can adapt to greater complexity at scale.

What are the biggest forces reshaping the fund industry?

Over the past year, I have spent a lot of time speaking with fund industry leaders and CEOs. These discussions happen in different markets, under different regulatory regimes, and across very different business models. Yet they tend to reach the same point very quickly.

The questions are remarkably consistent. How do we operate with less experienced talent? How do we support the convergence of liquid and illiquid products and break down silos? How do we handle increasingly complex ETFs? And how do we integrate blockchain and AI into fund operations in a practical way?

The fund industry has always changed in cycles. Regulation tightens. Products evolve. Markets shift. Technology follows. Historically, these forces arrived one after the other. That is no longer the case.

They are now happening at the same time.

The defining change is convergence: talent constraints, margin pressure, product evolution, regulation and technology are no longer arriving sequentially. Firms are having to respond to all of them at once.

Across regions and fund types, firms are facing the same realities. Skilled people are harder to find and harder to retain. Margins remain under pressure.

Technology can help solve many of these challenges – but it also makes them more urgent. It enables scale and innovation, while increasing complexity and the pace of change. Systems are moving faster than organisations can keep up. Decisions on architecture, sourcing and long-term investment cannot be deferred. In this environment, doing nothing is a choice – and the wrong one.

Why is talent becoming a structural constraint for fund operations?

The shortage of experienced fund accounting, operations and oversight professionals is no longer cyclical; it is structural. As products become more complex and regulatory expectations rise, the pool of qualified talent is not keeping up.

Firms need operating models that reduce reliance on scarce expertise for routine work, while preserving judgement and control where it matters.

This shifts the role of technology. Automation is no longer just about efficiency. It is about resilience. Firms that do not reduce operational complexity will be constrained – not by capital or demand, but by people.

How are ETFs and private assets redefining fund operations?

ETFs and private assets are often discussed as separate trends. In practice, they are two sides of the same structural shift.

Operationally, both trends create the same requirement: support a broader range of products and greater complexity without creating more silos.

ETFs are changing how investors access liquidity, with a focus on scale, transparency and efficiency. At the same time, private assets are moving beyond institutional investors. This creates pressure to scale structures that were never built for volume or frequent valuation.

On the private assets side, the result is a widening spectrum of fund models rather than a clean split between “liquid” and “illiquid”. Evergreen funds, semi-liquid vehicles, interval funds and hybrid structures are increasingly common. These models blur operational assumptions around dealing frequency, valuation, liquidity management and reporting.

For administrators and asset servicers, the challenge is not to specialise narrowly around one product type, but to support an expanding range of structures on a coherent, controllable platform.

How should firms integrate AI, cloud, blockchain and digital assets?

The key technology question is no longer which individual tool to adopt. It is how to integrate new capabilities into a coherent operating model.

Much of the technology debate focuses on individual tools – blockchain, digital assets, cloud and AI. They matter, but not on their own.

Each brings change. Together, they add complexity. The challenge is not adoption, but integration – how to combine them into a coherent operating model, rather than creating new silos.

The impact is decided in day-to-day operations: accounting, data and controls. Technology only works if it fits how the business runs. If it does not, it adds friction instead of solving problems.

What role can a central fund platform play?

These changes cannot be addressed incrementally. They require sustained investment and discipline.

At Multifonds, our focus is simple: provide a central platform where new technologies can be integrated and used in a controlled way. We connect and embed capabilities such as cloud, data, AI and digital assets into a single operating environment. The goal is not to add more tools, but to make them work together consistently and at scale.

To achieve this, we work closely with our clients and their real constraints. We prioritise execution over theory. Solutions must be live, tested and delivering value. We build them together – not in isolation.

What should fund firms prioritise next?

Execution. The industry is not waiting for disruption. It is already changing. The firms that succeed will be those that face their operating realities and invest where it matters – beyond products, into their core.

The wider Multifonds 2026 magazine reflects that reality. The contributions that follow come from practitioners, partners and clients who are dealing with these changes every day. Their perspectives are varied, but they share one assumption: adaptation is no longer optional.

At Multifonds, our commitment is simple. We will continue to invest, to listen and to build in support of an industry that is becoming more complex, more interconnected and more demanding – because that is the only way forward.

Connect with the author

Oded Weiss | LinkedIn

Last updated in Aug 2026.