Client Reporting in 2025

Why data, customisation, and distribution matter more than ever

In today’s investment landscape, client reporting has evolved from a routine task to a pivotal element of client engagement and satisfaction. More than ever, investors demand timely, customised insights delivered through their preferred channels, reflecting a broader trend towards personalised financial services. This shift presents a significant challenge for asset managers, who must navigate complex data environments and heightened expectations without overburdening their operational capacities.

A study by Alpha FMC highlights that client reporting remains a highly complex and labour-intensive process across the asset management industry. The study emphasises the need for firms to assess their client reporting operating models to simplify, standardise, and maximise the benefits from vendor capabilities, embedded alongside in-house expertise.

In response to these challenges, the need to leverage automation to deliver tailored client communications efficiently – and transforming reporting from a cumbersome obligation into a strategic asset has become essential.

Section I: Reporting Redesign

In the evolving landscape of investment management, client reporting has transitioned from a routine operational task to a strategic imperative. Clients now demand timely, personalised, and accessible reporting, challenging firms to adapt their legacy systems and processes accordingly.

Alpha FMC’s 2023 Asset Management Digital Readiness Survey, encompassing insights from 50 leading asset managers overseeing a combined $34 trillion in assets, highlights this shift. The survey reveals that while 92% of firms prioritise digitisation, progress in digital maturity remains sluggish, hindered by organisational challenges, data accessibility issues, and constrained budgets.

Notably, firms are increasingly investing in digital client servicing, with 26% of digital transformation budgets allocated to this domain. This focus underscores the industry’s recognition of the need to enhance client experiences through improved reporting capabilities. However, many firms struggle with the “last mile” of data delivery: translating internal data into client-facing insights. Organisational structures and legacy systems often impede the seamless integration of data into client reports, resulting in inefficiencies and suboptimal client experiences.

To bridge this gap, asset managers are exploring automation and advanced analytics to streamline reporting processes. By leveraging technology, firms aim to deliver customised, timely, and accurate reports, thereby enhancing client satisfaction and operational efficiency.

Section II: Inside the Kurtosys Model

As investment firms continue navigating a fast-changing landscape marked by digitisation, heightened client expectations, and increasingly complex reporting requirements, many are being pushed to reassess how they approach investor servicing. A recent study conducted by Kurtosys, in partnership with Adox Research, sheds light on how firms are responding—and where the biggest challenges still lie.

The survey, The Client Reporting Playbook: Analysing the Latest Trends in Investor Servicing and Reporting, gathered insights from 65 investment managers across the industry. It revealed a growing focus on delivering personalised, scalable, and flexible reporting experiences. But progress is uneven—and data quality is still a major stumbling block. Nearly four in five respondents (78%) reported recurring issues with data quality, and more than a third (37%) said they regularly receive data outside of agreed service level agreements (SLAs).

This lack of reliable data has downstream effects. Just 8% of investment managers said they can produce fully customised client reports without additional support. For many, report generation still depends heavily on IT involvement, whether for database calculations, configuring templates, or managing backend systems. The result is a process that’s often too manual and too time-consuming to be viable, not to mention the vulnerabilities to compliance risks.

The path forward begins, unsurprisingly, with the data itself. More than 20% of respondents have already adopted modern data platforms such as Snowflake and Databricks to help centralise, validate, and query their reporting data. These tools are helping firms automate key parts of the reporting process, reducing the need for manual intervention and allowing teams to respond to client needs more efficiently.

But having clean, accessible data is only part of the solution. Investment managers also need tools that make it easier to build and deliver tailored client experiences. Integrating reporting processes with familiar tools like Microsoft Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and Adobe InDesign allows teams to create and share accurate, engaging and interactive data visualisations and consistent reports in a timely manner—without sacrificing compliance or scalability.

Delivery, too, plays a critical role. While some clients prefer accessing reports via a secure portal, others favour receiving them by email. The survey found preferences split evenly—43% in each camp—underscoring the need for a flexible, multi-channel distribution approach. Firms that limit themselves to a single delivery method risk falling short of client expectations.

Section III: Business Value on a Silver Platter

Digital client reporting platforms have evolved well beyond operational support tools; they are now pivotal to competitive positioning, client satisfaction and regulatory assurance.

By automating complex reporting workflows, firms can drastically reduce error rates and accelerate delivery cycles. This shift eliminates the manual burden often associated with spreadsheet-heavy processes, allowing reporting teams to focus on value-added tasks rather than formatting inconsistencies. By standardising data flows and formatting rules, firms can eliminate the risks inherent in manual reporting processes. The result is a consistent, audit-ready output delivered in hours, not days.

Additionally, tailored, timely, and visually coherent reporting deepens trust with institutional and retail clients alike. Investors now expect reporting that is not only accurate but aligned with their investment strategy, objectives, and preferred delivery formats. Meeting these expectations helps solidify relationships and improve client retention.

In term of regulatory assurance, those platforms embed compliance checks, audit trails, and rule-based governance within the reporting lifecycle. This not only reduces the likelihood of regulatory breaches but also equips firms to respond rapidly to evolving disclosure standards across jurisdictions.

Modern solutions are designed with adaptability in mind, often integrating AI-generated commentary, enabling multilingual outputs, or supporting dynamic and interactive reporting. A compelling example comes from a global asset management firm that leveraged AI-powered natural language generation to automate thousands of fund performance commentaries. This type of implementation helps reduce turnaround time from days to minutes and ensured consistency across reports, all while improving client engagement at scale.

Conclusion

Client reporting is no longer a backstage function; it’s a headline act. As expectations evolve, the asset management industry must pivot from patchwork solutions to purpose-built platforms that treat data not as a burden but as a source of strategic advantage.

What’s clear is this: the future belongs to firms that can seamlessly transform raw data into personalised, compliant, and visually engaging reports delivered through the client’s channel of choice. Platforms like Kurtosys are redefining this paradigm, offering technology that anticipates needs, removes friction, and elevates service from adequate to exceptional.

In 2025 and beyond, the winners won’t just be those who report well; they’ll be those who communicate with clarity, agility, and empathy. And in doing so, they’ll build the trust that fuels long-term success.

More about Kurtosys

Kurtosys helps investment managers streamline the delivery of data and insights to investors. Their platform brings together reporting, client portals, and fund websites to enhance efficiency, accuracy, and the overall investor experience – built for today and ready for the future. Find out more about their solutions by visiting www.kurtosys.com.

Read the full report here: https://bit.ly/3GHCLZu