Investment managers are continuing to migrate and consolidate their third-party services as they attempt to become more efficient.

Anita Lyse, head of real assets in Europe for Alter Domus, says the fund administrator saw a marked increase in mergers of outsourced operations during 2024 and expects to see further consolidation in 2025, even as the market picks up.

“When markets are slow managers take their time to assess their infrastructure and consider replacing service providers, or consolidating their operations,” says Lyse.

“We saw this during COVID and it has been happening again. We have accepted many migration projects, either because managers are dissatisfied with current service providers or because managers who have pan-European or global operations have worked with dozens of service providers. This is time consuming, and they now wish to find better solutions and work with fewer providers.”

Lyse says this attempt to reduce the number o