Will outsourcing be a key element of the investment management firm of the future?

When a trend that was once a “nice-to-have” becomes a “need-to-have,” you know it’s here to stay. That seems to be the case with outsourcing, in which investment managers enlist a third-party provider to handle everything from fund administration accounting to leasing and property management so they can shift their time and resources to focus on their core competencies.

The back-office outsourcing trend has been around for decades in mutual funds, hedge funds and private equity funds, but in an age driven by metrics and the need for accurate, granular data, it is quickly cementing its place in one of the last sectors to hold out: real estate.

While the outsourcing of key functions such as leasing and property management has been commonplace among real estate organizations, the outsourcing of accounting or certain areas of asset management or portfolio management that were previously handled internally has recently picked up steam in the real estate world. Exp