Asset management firms are behind banks in adopting AI, and the gap could reshape how junior analysts and portfolio managers build their careers. A Boston Consulting Group report from April 2026 found that while banks and fintech companies are pushing ahead, asset managers remain focused on pilot programs and incremental gains - a pace the report called "no longer sufficient."
Where AI will and won't replace people
BCG estimates that 50% to 65% of traditional junior-heavy analyst work - "data gathering and first-pass modelling" - could be freed up by AI. Portfolio managers face a much smaller impact: only 5% to 10% of their role is at risk, because the final decisions still require human judgment. "The edge will no longer come from producing analysis but from deciding what to do with it," BCG said, adding that portfolio managers now need to "decide which models to use, how to combine them, and when to challenge them."
AI operations agents are already handling trade execution, and the technology's effect on coding roles is well documented. AI can write code, but it still needs close guidance and isn't ready to work unsupervised.
Intimidation and internal pilots
The fear inside the industry is real. A director at a US asset management firm told our 2026 Compensation & Lifestyle Survey that his manager used "intimidation tactics" to push for more work with fewer people, "including threatening to replace me with AI."
T. Rowe Price, managing $1.9 trillion at the end of Q2 2026, offers a window into how a traditional firm is adapting. CEO Rob Sharps said on the firm's Q2 2026 investor call that T. Rowe Price was moving past "isolated use cases" and integrating AI into workflows. The company has deployed roughly 130 solutions across the firm, with adoption by over 70% of associates.
BlackRock embeds AI into its core product
AI is also becoming part of what asset managers sell. BlackRock has added a copilot to its Aladdin portfolio management software, letting clients pull data and insights faster without leaving the system. The move signals that AI augmentation is no longer just back-office efficiency - it will be a client-facing differentiator.
The Junior Analyst experience gap
Jeremy Leung, an AI solutions manager at T. Rowe Price and former UBS portfolio manager, wrote in March 2026 that the early years of an analyst's career are an important learning process. That time is spent "reading hundreds of filings, updating endless models, listening to management teams quarter after quarter" - exactly the work AI is now doing. Leung warned that analysts may be less well rounded as a result, losing critical development milestones that come from grinding through manual research.
Why this means for managers
If you are managing a team in asset management, the BCG data provides a two-year timeline to rethink hiring and development. Analyst roles will shrink in volume, but the analysts you keep will need stronger judgment and model criticism skills. Portfolio managers will need to spend less time on sourcing numbers and more time on framing the right questions about AI outputs. The real career risk is not being replaced outright - it's losing the developmental pipeline that builds competent senior professionals. Plan your team's AI upskilling as part of project assignments, not a separate training exercise. For targeted AI for Finance resources, managers can also explore structured approaches like the AI Ppath for Senior Managers to prepare their teams for the shift.
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