€243B Tech Spend Ahead, but Only 1 in 4 Firms Achieves Scale: WBAM Research Reveals Structural Paradox

According to research conducted by Monitor Deloitte, a consultancy firm, and Objectway, a growth partner for the financial services industry, wealth, banking and asset management (WBAM) firms are investing at record levels, with Technology & Operations spending reaching €173 billion globally and set to hit €243 billion by 2029. However, yet only around one in four firms has achieved true front-to-back scalability, growing their business without a proportional rise in cost and complexity.

This paradox emerges as WBAM firms face record-high levels of structural complexity, driven by a perfect storm of rising client expectations, accelerating regulation and ongoing cross-border fragmentation. These forces are placing an unprecedented strain on operating models that were not designed to withstand such a high level of change.

The findings highlight a structural paradox: firms have responded to rising complexity by layering additional resources onto existing operating models. This dynamic is further reinforced by legacy IT environments, which act as an invisible scalability ceiling fostering a continuous increase of technical debt. Technology and operations spending remains heavily weighted toward fixed and largely uncompressible items, with internal staff and proprietary infrastructure still accounting for approximately 50% of total IT budgets. At the same time, the persistent evolution of regulatory frameworks across markets imposes a permanent toll on IT investments.

“Firms are not solving complexity - they are managing it expensively,”Manuel Pincetti, Managing Partner for Central Mediterranean Region at Monitor Deloitte, commented on the research results. “But innovative strategies are gaining ground in the WBAM industry. Tech&Ops spending mix is rapidly accelerating towards as-a-service models, whose incidence has grown by +10 percentage points over the last few years.”

Innovation alone is not enough: sourcing strategy is the real differentiator
The report highlights that technology investment per se is not sufficient to unlock scale. The key differentiator is how Technology & Operations capabilities are sourced, orchestrated and delivered.

Spending is progressively moving toward as-a-service models, including Hybrid SaaS, Pure SaaS and SaaS/BPaaS configurations.
These models enable firms to:

• Reduce internal complexity by offloading non-core activities to specialised partners
• Access modular, configurable platforms without bespoke development
• Gain elite access to innovation and scarce talent
• De-risk investments with a limited upfront Capex and value-based pricing tied to business metrics

“The adoption of as-a-service models is accelerating rapidly, with the proportion of firms using them as their core delivery model expected to increase threefold over the next two to three years,” Pincetti added. “The as-a-service model is no longer just an IT model; it is a strategic response to complexity. It also enables adoption of AI at scale, where uncertain ROI is considered the most critical adoption barrier for almost one third of WBAM firms, and AI accelerates the successful deployment of as-a-service strategies.”

AI: strong momentum, but governance remains the key challenge
AI is rapidly transitioning from pilot initiatives to an enterprise-wide capability across financial services, with global investments reached approximately €50 billion in 2025 and expected to grow at around 28% CAGR through 2033. This momentum is leaving little room for a wait-and-see approach, as firms increasingly look to reimagine operations, with up to 70% of processes potentially benefiting from AI and GenAI solutions.
However, scaling AI adoption requires more than investment alone. Around 85% of firms are currently designing dedicated AI frameworks, reflecting a growing recognition of the governance imperative as a prerequisite for industrialisation. Meanwhile, the rise of agentic AI, which is expected to increase in deployment by over 2.3 times in the next 12 months, signals a shift towards enterprise-scale applications.

“The real challenge today is grafting AI into an outcome-driven orchestrated solution, not layering it on top of existing models,” said Alberto Cuccu, Chief Operating Officer International at Objectway. “At Objectway, we are building a new generation of intelligent agents orchestrated within our platform, enriched by third-party capabilities, and co-designed with our clients. Value comes from sequence: first, define the desired outcomes; then, prioritise the use caseswith the greatest potential for scalability; next, orchestrate the agents and workflows; finally, engineer the technology to scale.”

4 call-to actions for CEOs
In conclusion, the shift to as-a-service models is not merely a technological upgrade, but a fundamental transformation of the enterprise that requires shared accountability between business and IT leadership. Success depends on strong executive sponsorship to align vision and execution, disciplined change management to guide the organization through the adoption program, and a rethinking of operating models through the lens of AI and Agentic AI, designing workflows that fully capture the as-a-service logic. Equally critical is the ability to foster a curated ecosystem of strategic, best-in-class partners under a clear governance framework.

“Financial institutions that scale successfully are not those with the most ambitious technology roadmaps, but those that have tackled the harder, less visible work first. The as-a-service journey requires more than the right platform: it demands the right approach, the right organisational commitment and theright partner, who understands the industry’s complexity and can support firms in moving at pace,” concluded Luigi Marciano, Objectway’s Founder and Group CEO.

About the research
The report, “Master complexity to unlock scale: the as-a-service imperative for Wealth, Banking and Asset Management,” was developed by Monitor Deloitte and Objectway, based on a multi-layered methodology combining (i) proprietary market sizing and benchmarking analysis, (ii) insights from the FT Longitude/Objectway 2026 survey of 300 financial services professional across 10 countries, and (iii) a curated set of transformation case studies developed from Objectway and Monitor Deloitte client engagements.

Deloitte
Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (DTTL) is a global network of professional services firms present in more than 150 countries, united by shared values, common methodologies and high-quality standards. As of May 31 2025, the global network includes 473,050 professionals and revenues of $70.5 billion, confirming its position among the world’s leading providers of professional services. Deloitte Central Mediterranean (DCM), which includes Italy, Greece, and Malta, operates within EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa), an integrated ecosystem that fosters multidisciplinary collaboration across geographies and capabilities, strengthening the network’s ability to develop innovative solutions and respond to the challenges of international markets.

Monitor Deloitte
Monitor Deloitte is the global strategy consulting arm of Deloitte with 7.000+ practitioners serving 90%+ of Fortune 100 and 500 companies. To navigate the future with confidence, organizations need to make the right choices: clear, timely, and inspirational choices that deliver growth in a dynamic, disrupted world. Monitor Deloitte’s Strategy practitioners combine deep industry and sector insights with cutting-edge methods to help leaders resolve their most critical decisions, drive value, and achieve transformational success orchestrating Deloitte’s breath of capabilities.

Objectway
For over 35 years, Objectway has been a trusted partner to banking, asset and wealth management firms, delivering scalable solutions that drive performance and empower the entire value chain.
As a full-service provider, Objectway seamlessly integrates across business operations and service models, guiding clients through their transformation journey with highly configurable solutions.
The flexible solution design adapts to both global and regional structures, enabling scalable growth across customers, geographies, and the entire value chain.
As a global TOP-100 FinTech provider (IDC FinTech Rankings), Objectway admins over €1 trillion of assets and supports more than 100,000 investment professionals (financial advisors, private bankers, relationship managers) to manage over €700 billion AUM for more than 5 million investors.
The firm’s growth strategy, driven by both organic expansion and strategic acquisitions, has propelled the company to €130 million in revenue (FY 2025).
Objectway serves 250+ leading banks, wealth managers, asset managers, and insurers across EMEA and Canada.
With a global presence and a team of 850+ business and technology professionals, Objectway operates from offices in Italy, the UK, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, France, Ireland, UAE, and Canada.
objectway.com

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