Luxembourg fund services providers have displayed “increasingly mature digital ambition” with clearer goals, “yet, ambition continues to outpace execution,” a big four consulting firm has concluded in an annual survey of local firms.
“While many firms are closer than ever to embedding digitalisation into their core operating models, sustained success will depend on closing execution gaps, accelerating concept‑to‑production cycles” and finding scalable solutions that clients want to use, EY Luxembourg said in a report issued on Thursday.
According to the representative poll of Luxembourg asset servicing companies, “almost two-thirds (65%) of firms have digital products in market, while a further 27% plan to develop them, meaning 92% are on a digital product path.”
However, rolling out new digital tools is taking too much time, EY suggested. The majority of respondents took between 6 and 12 months “to move ideas from concept to production,” reflecting “ongoing reliance on fragmented processes, manual steps and hybrid delivery structures.”
This “contrast[s] sharply with fintech‑style release cycles, reinforcing the structural gap between incumbents and digital‑native players.”
Artificial intelligence (AI) “adoption is strongest in areas where data structures, rules and outcomes are well defined,” EY commented. The top use cases currently in production by fund administration providers cover net asset value (Nav) calculation and reconciliation, investor reporting and document generation, and regulatory and compliance filing.
The report said that for management companies (mancos) and alternative investment fund managers (AIFMs), AI is used most in delegation oversight and monitoring, fund life cycle management and “risk aggregation across the chain”.
Looking at the market as a whole, Luxembourg received a score of three out of five possible points for “digital maturity”, a marked improvement compared to 1.6 in 2022.
Luxembourg asset servicers struggling with digital transition, says study
The measure assesses factors such as how providers implement their dedicated digital strategies, “the degree to which the end-to-end client experience journey is supported by advanced technology,” and “the extent to which the business makes use of emerging technologies and applications.”
Methodology
EY said the survey was taken by “senior leaders and decision-makers” at “42 asset servicing industry players in Luxembourg in March and April 2026,” including banks, transfer agents, mancos and AIFMs. The executives worked at providers serving both private market funds and Ucits mutual funds.
