Key Takeaways
- • Align, a global provider of technology infrastructure and Managed IT Services, released The Emerging Manager Report: Navigating Change Across Operational Due Diligence, built from discussions and survey data at its annual Emerging Manager Summit.
- • The report identifies four priority areas for emerging managers: institutional readiness, cybersecurity, strategic outsourcing, and artificial intelligence adoption.
- • Despite broad confidence among firms in their preparedness for allocator scrutiny, the research finds meaningful capability gaps that emerging managers must close to compete for institutional capital.
- • Managers are increasing cybersecurity spending to counter evolving threats and meet more stringent regulatory demands.
- • The report is ungated and includes on-demand video interviews with representatives from TrustServe, Channel Capital, CohnReznick, SalusGRC, Corbin Capital, and N-ABLE.
Summary
Align has published The Emerging Manager Report: Navigating Change Across Operational Due Diligence, according to a Business Wire release dated November 6, 2025. The report draws on discussions and survey data gathered during Align's annual Emerging Manager Summit, and is presented as a synthesis of input from fund managers, allocators, and service providers in the alternative investment industry.
The research covers four areas Align describes as pivotal to the industry's future: institutional readiness, cybersecurity priorities, outsourcing strategies, and artificial intelligence adoption. On institutional readiness, the report finds that while most firms express confidence in their preparedness for allocator scrutiny, the data points to capability gaps that emerging managers must close to win institutional capital. On cybersecurity, firms are raising investment to counter evolving threats and satisfy more demanding regulatory requirements.
On outsourcing, the report indicates managers are taking a more deliberate approach, with the decision over which functions to keep in-house versus outsource now treated as a key strategic choice. On AI, the release says firms are identifying concrete use cases for integrating the technology into investment and operational workflows.
Vinod Paul, President of Align Managed Services, described the report as a "true pulse check" on the industry, capturing what managers are prioritizing as they operate in what he called one of the most complex environments the firm has seen. The report is available ungated at www.align.com/emerging-manager-report, alongside on-demand video interviews with senior representatives from TrustServe, Channel Capital, CohnReznick, SalusGRC, Corbin Capital, N-ABLE, and others. Note that the release is issued by a service provider and the findings are presented by the company itself; no independent verification of the survey data is provided.
The research covers four areas Align describes as pivotal to the industry's future: institutional readiness, cybersecurity priorities, outsourcing strategies, and artificial intelligence adoption. On institutional readiness, the report finds that while most firms express confidence in their preparedness for allocator scrutiny, the data points to capability gaps that emerging managers must close to win institutional capital. On cybersecurity, firms are raising investment to counter evolving threats and satisfy more demanding regulatory requirements.
On outsourcing, the report indicates managers are taking a more deliberate approach, with the decision over which functions to keep in-house versus outsource now treated as a key strategic choice. On AI, the release says firms are identifying concrete use cases for integrating the technology into investment and operational workflows.
Vinod Paul, President of Align Managed Services, described the report as a "true pulse check" on the industry, capturing what managers are prioritizing as they operate in what he called one of the most complex environments the firm has seen. The report is available ungated at www.align.com/emerging-manager-report, alongside on-demand video interviews with senior representatives from TrustServe, Channel Capital, CohnReznick, SalusGRC, Corbin Capital, N-ABLE, and others. Note that the release is issued by a service provider and the findings are presented by the company itself; no independent verification of the survey data is provided.
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