The asset manager's essential software guide

For asset management firms, maintaining client and investor relationships is a top priority.

Asset managers are trusted by institutions and individuals to help them build stronger portfolios and maximize the value of their assets. To stay ahead of the competition, asset management firms need to deepen those relationships and keep their investors informed while driving positive investment outcomes. To accomplish that at scale, firms need the best tech stack in their corner—including asset management software. 

The right tech stack for asset managers can help your firm better manage investment pipelines, portfolio performance, and client relationships. And in this guide, we’ll take you through the process of selecting the best pieces of software for your firm, including features to look for and some of the leading solutions in today’s market. 

Key takeaways

• Asset managers rely on software and a robust tech stack to optimize portfolio performance and build stronger relationships with investors, LPs, and other stakeholders.
• Asset management firms should look for software solutions that offer relationship management, pipeline tracking, advanced reporting capabilities, and enterprise-grade security features.
• With relationship intelligence, data enrichment, and automated activity capture, Affinity CRM stands out as one of the leading software solutions for asset management firms.

What is software for asset management firms?

Software for asset management firms has expanded beyond portfolio tracking and reporting. Today, asset managers rely on a growing stack of tools to manage relationships, evaluate opportunities, and collaborate across teams. While portfolio management software supports fund performance, and generic CRMs or pipeline tools help organize contacts and deals, these systems aren’t built for the way asset managers actually operate across strategies and stakeholders.

That’s why many firms are turning to tools that offer shared visibility, automated activity capture, relevant enriched data, and the context needed to manage long-term relationships—not just transactions.

Why asset management firms need a tailored tech stack

Asset management can be an extremely complex process. Teams are often balancing multiple clients and managing various investment mandates across a diverse range of asset classes. 

When it comes to asset management software, here are some of the top reasons that firms may need to revisit their tech stack:

Complexity of relationship networks

With almost 60% of institutional investors viewing their asset manager as a strategic partner in their work, maintaining those relationships is key to finding and retaining top clients. But asset managers are constantly navigating an intricate network of investors and stakeholders—internally and externally. 

Institutional clients, like pension funds or wealth funds, tend to have multiple decision-makers involved. And every investment decision goes through the firm’s investment committee, which is made up of risk managers, compliance teams, and other internal stakeholders. On top of that, asset managers are often also juggling a long list of prospects and clients in their deal pipeline.

The complexity of asset management means that keeping everyone aligned on investment opportunities and apprised of portfolio performance is no easy task. It requires a centralized communication system that maintains engagement while streamlining documentation and protecting sensitive information. 

Increasing investment volume and competition

An Affinity survey of over 300 private capital dealmakers found that 42% of respondents cited competition as a key factor influencing their deal flow in 2025. 

With increased competition, staying on top of opportunities is critical for securing lucrative clients and maximizing returns. Asset management firms need tools to help surface warm introductions and identify the strongest paths in the firm’s collective network, so they can get to the right deals first. 

Need for real-time visibility into investments

In asset management, the need for real-time insight into investments is twofold. Firms need to be able to provide updates to clients and investors at any given time to prove strategy execution. But they also need to be able to monitor portfolio metrics and trends to make quick decisions to improve investor returns. 

Centralizing institutional knowledge

From investor relations to risk and compliance, asset management firms often have multiple teams working on a deal at any given time. There needs to be a unified source of information to maintain alignment. Everyone should have visibility into the investment lifecycle, documentation, and next steps so that nothing gets missed and firms can meet their fiduciary obligations. 

Reducing manual work and data silos

Missing documentation or insights can put investments at risk. But manually uploading records and creating interaction notes can be a time-consuming process that prevents investment teams from focusing on the things that make an impact, such as relationship-building. Having the tools to eliminate repetitive and tedious tasks can prevent information gaps from forming and provide comprehensive data access while saving hours in a team’s work week.

Key features of software that asset managers need

The right asset management software stack is devised of powerful tools that enable firms to focus on the things that help scale their investment process and build investor partnerships. With a wide range of software solutions available in today’s market, it means finding those that best aligns with your workflow and asset management needs.

Here are some features to consider when evaluating software for your asset management firm’s tech stack. 

Contact and relationship management

In asset management, effectively managing your relationships with investors and key stakeholders is vital. Your asset management software stack shouldn’t just help you stay on top of your portfolio—it should help you effectively engage and manage communications with the people in your network, so you can identify opportunities for deeper relationships and find high-potential prospects. 

In addition to contact management, relationship intelligence capabilities and insights can help uncover warmer paths to key investors and trigger notifications when your most important relationships start to lapse. 

Investment pipeline tracking

Asset managers evaluate a high volume of potential investment opportunities while strategically screening them against different clients’ investment objectives. It can be difficult—if not impossible—to manually track and maintain a quality pipeline. 

Software that unifies your investment pipeline helps streamline your investments and maintain momentum throughout the process. It should also automate tracking, so all teams have real-time access to investment progression and visibility into next steps.  

Data enrichment and automation

Making the right investment decisions for your investors requires access to comprehensive data for both your investors and investment opportunities. You need to be able to anticipate market trends and risks to assess investment fit. 

You need software that can automatically enrich existing insights with relevant metrics and market data, as well as capture the data available within your organization, so you can evaluate opportunities more efficiently and communicate those decisions with confidence. When asset managers have access to the data they need, when they need it, they’re also much more likely to use it and keep it up to date. 

Communication tracking (emails, meetings)

Being able to automatically capture all communications keeps everyone aligned on interactions and historical context, creating a consistent client experience. Those interactions can then be turned into actionable insights related to investor engagement and relationship strength, helping you improve prospecting and relationship management. 

Document and activity logging

Whether it’s fielding investor concerns, dealing with audits, or evaluating investment opportunities, asset managers need to maintain complete investment documentation. One solution in your asset management software stack should be a complete record of investment activities, so you can provide stakeholders with required documentation at any moment in time. 

Reporting and analytics

The success of an asset management firm often hinges on its ability to deliver returns. 

While Excel spreadsheets can help provide helpful analysis for reporting and strategy execution, having robust reporting built into your asset management software stack gives you visibility into portfolio performance at a glance. In many cases, you’re able to share those reports directly with investors and stakeholders to boost communications.

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Integrations with existing tools

Rather than tools working independently of each other your asset management software stack should improve productivity and efficiency and work seamlessly with existing workflows. Look for opportunities to integrate with the tools your team already uses, such as Gmail, Outlook, or Slack to accelerate pipelines and workflows.

Security and compliance features

Asset managers need to protect sensitive client and investment information, making enterprise-grade security and compliance a top priority when evaluating asset management solutions. Vendors should clearly be able to point to the certifications and best practices they have in place to protect your firm, assets, and information of your investors.

Common compliance and security features to look for include independent testing, encryption, backups, and network security.

Top 8 asset management systems for investment firms 

Let’s explore some of the top solutions for asset management firms that help to manage investor relationships and make winning investment decisions.

1. Affinity

Affinity is a CRM designed to help investment firms build stronger stakeholder relationships, manage pipelines, and track portfolio performance. With AI-powered relationship intelligence and automated activity capture, Affinity centralizes your relationships and deal flow to deliver a seamless end-to-end experience for internal stakeholders and clients. 

Key features:

• Track investor engagement and relationship strength: Affinity syncs with your team’s email and calendar to create a complete record of every interaction through automated activity capture, eliminating manual data capture.
• Unlock the full potential of your firm’s collective network: Relationship intelligence reveals the strength of every relationship and uncovers warm introductions to investors that close deals 25% faster. 
• Proprietary and third-party data enrichment: Make investment decisions faster with real-time insights and records enriched with data from over 40 trusted sources. 
• Manage pipelines with ease: Unify investment data and keep teams aligned with Kanban-style pipeline tracking. 
• Maintain complete investment documentation: Automatically capture communications and investment documentation and surface the information you need using Affinity Deal Assist’s conversational AI.
• Track and visualize portfolio performance: Create custom dashboards and demonstrate investment outcomes for internal and external stakeholders with advanced analytics and reporting.
• Work where you already do: Use Affinity’s Google Chrome and Microsoft Outlook extensions to view relationship context, log notes, and take action directly from your inbox or browser without switching tabs.

Pros 

• Easy-to-use user interface: Affinity’s desktop CRM and mobile app (iOS) are designed to help investors access the information they need as easily as possible. 
• Quick onboarding and implementation: Accelerate time to value and set up in as little as 72 hours.
• Enterprise-grade data security: Affinity is compliant with SOC 2, ISO27001, and GDPR to protect your clients and sensitive information. 
• Works with your existing CRM: For asset management firms already working in Salesforce, Affinity for Salesforce seamlessly layers on top to maximize your CRM experience.
• Native and third-party integrations with your investment tech stack: Seamlessly connect Affinity to essential investment platforms or create custom integrations through APIs.

Cons

• Firms new to using relationship intelligence in investor relations and prospecting may require a ramp-up period.

Industry fit

Best for relationship-driven asset management teams.

Pricing

Affinity starts at $2,000 per user, per year. Request a demo to explore Affinity’s pricing and understand how Affinity can elevate your relationship management. 

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2. Juniper Square 

Juniper Square is an all-in-one investor relationship management platform helping private market and asset management firms communicate and collaborate with investors. From fund administration to investor reporting, Juniper Square offers a connected solution to firms in asset management.

Key features

• Fully-integrated CRM: Manage contacts and prospects in the same place as your data rooms and investor reporting. 
• Investor management: Keep clients up-to-date on performance metrics with investor statements and reports.
• Self-serve investor portal: Provide investors with direct access to investment and transaction details while evaluating investor engagement with portal analytics.

Pros 

• User-friendly and intuitive interface.
• Supportive and responsive customer service.

Cons

• Users report that missing functionality prevents it from being a true end-to-end solution for investment firms.
• High cost can be a barrier for smaller firms. 

Industry fit

Best for real estate investment firms, private equity fundraising, and LP management.

Pricing

Pricing for Juniper Square is not publicly available on their website.

3. Altvia

Altvia AIM is an asset management solution and private capital CRM built on the Salesforce platform. Altvia centralizes data and investor relations to help firms boost productivity and make scalable investment decisions. 

Key features

• CRM and pipeline management: Manage prospects, investors, and deal pipelines in a single platform.
• Real-time reporting: Provide clients with up-to-date reporting and portfolio insights for better investor engagement and communications.
• AIMe assistant: Eliminate repetitive tasks while surfacing the data you need to make smarter investment decisions.

Pros 

• Altvia is built on Salesforce, providing users with the comprehensive power of the Salesforce platform.
• Help investors visualize portfolio performance with custom analysis and reporting

Cons

• Advanced functions can come with a learning curve.
• No network mapping for introductions and investor connections.

Industry fit

Best for asset management firms also working in private capital markets.

Pricing

Users report pricing starting at $1800 per user per year.

4. DealCloud 

Intapp DealCloud is a CRM system that helps professional service firms, like asset management, streamline deal sourcing, manage records, and expand networks.

Key features

• Pipeline management: Keep deals and prospects moving through the pipeline with unified reporting and automated workflows. 
• Experience management: Boost decision-making and improve internal knowledge sharing with a catalogue of internal employee insights.
• Investor relations: Find and maintain strong relationships with clients, consolidating all communication and marketing activities into one platform.

Pros 

• Data-driven business intelligence and insights into pipelines and relationships.
• Highly customizable solution that can adapt to the needs of different firms and industries.

Cons

• Long implementation timelines with limited onboarding support.
• The complex interface can be challenging to navigate for dealmakers trying to make fast, informed decisions. 

Industry fit

Best for private capital markets and investment banking. 

Pricing

Pricing for DealCloud is not publicly available on their website.

5. Salesforce 

Salesforce is a leading CRM software that helps businesses connect and maintain relationships with customers. With a wide range of functionality, Salesforce helps asset management firms unify their data, transactions, and client communications in one integrated platform.

Key features

• Robust CRM: Manage client communications and deals in one place for a more streamlined asset management process. 
• Unified data management: Access relationships, client accounts, and interaction data without needing to switch between apps and tabs.
• Self-serve investor solutions: Offer clients access to their investment insights at any given time.

Pros 

• Extensive features and capabilities beyond pipeline and relationship management.
• Highly customizable with the support of additional apps, integrations, and developer tools.

Cons

• Not built from first principles to serve the needs of investors and asset managers.
• Customizing features for asset managers can be overwhelming and require developer support.

Industry fit

Best for managing customer data and transactional relationships. Can be customized for the long-term needs of asset management firms with integrations like Affinity for Salesforce.

Pricing

Salesforce CRM starts at $25 per user per month. Pricing changes based on the features and access your team needs. 

Already managing your pipeline on Salesforce? Layer on relationship intelligence and automated activity capture with Affinity for Salesforce. 

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6. Backstop Solutions 

Backstop Solutions is an investment management software that provides institutional investors with the front and back office tools they need to make more informed investment decisions. 

Key features

• Portfolio management: Stay on top of investment activity, performance, and related research with industry benchmarks and tailored reporting.
• Comprehensive data services: Turn insights into action with investment data loaded into the system and automatically connected to funds and investments. 
• Research management system: Streamline deal sourcing, investment evaluation, and research across various asset classes based on your process and data requirements 

Pros 

• Functionality allows for the management of alternative and multi-asset classes.
• Fully customizable product to meet your team’s needs with hands-on support.

Cons

• Limited-to-no relationship insights, outside of a traditional contact database system. 
• Capturing activity, notes, and documentation is a manual process. 
• Users report a dated interface with UI limitations.

Industry fit

Best for institutional investors and multi-asset investments.

Pricing

Pricing for Backstop Solutions is not publicly available on their website.

7. Dynamo Software 

Dynamo Software is a cloud-based investment management and asset management platform, primarily designed for the alternative investments space.

Key features

• Pipeline management: Centralize contacts, documentation, and data to stay on top of your investment pipelines.
• Relationship management: Track relationships with clients and investors, and personalize client communications.
• Fund performance reporting: Report on investments and assets across your portfolio and share results with investors through a secure portal.

Pros 

• Integrations with third-party data providers.
• Specializes in the asset management industry.

Cons

• UI isn’t as intuitive as many competitors and can be challenging to learn
• Lacks relationship intelligence and insights for richer investor interactions.

Industry fit

Best for multi-asset and alternative asset investment management. 

Pricing

Pricing for Dynamo Software is not publicly available on their website, but users report pricing starting from $750 per year.

8. Navatar 

One of the first CRMs built for investment banking and asset management, Navatar’s traditional CRM helps financial services firms track asset management, deal pipelines, and manage investor relations. Like Altvia, Navatar is built on top of Salesforce. 

Key features

• Pipeline management: Automate your deal flow and analyze your pipeline with visual reports to evaluate investment opportunities. 
• Relationship management: Understand investor and prospect activity within your firm and nurture relationships with automated outreach.
• AI intelligence: Capture interaction data automatically and use the insights to improve investment decisions.  

Pros 

• Built on top of Salesforce, making it a good fit for Salesforce-based firms, and integrates with apps on the Salesforce App Exchange.
• Navatar has built a reputation as a trusted software in the investment industry.

Cons

• Users report limited functionality to tie investments back to contacts.
• Onboarding and implementation can be complex.

Industry fit

Best for asset management firms with private equity and M&A advisory arms.

Pricing

Navatar’s pricing is not publicly available on their website.

Affinity: a critical part of the asset management software tech stack

The relationship-driven nature of asset management combined with complex investment mandates and fast-moving opportunities means that generic CRMs often fall flat for investment management firms. In order to build long-term trust with investors and increase assets under management, firms need software purpose-built for investment industries—like Affinity.

Affinity is everything you know and love about a traditional CRM, but built for private capital and backed by automations and the power of relationship intelligence. With industry-leading network insights and deal data, Affinity is trusted by 3,000+ investment firms and has been used to manage over $1T in assets.

Ready to see how Affinity can transform your asset management process? Book a demo with our team today. 

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Asset management software FAQs

What software is used for asset management?

Software, like Affinity, is used by asset managers to manage stakeholder relationships, streamline deal pipelines, and complement traditional asset management tools.  

What are the key features of asset management software for investment firms?

The key features of asset management software for investment firms include relationship intelligence, automated activity tracking, pipeline and deal tracking, and robust reporting and analytics. The best software solutions for asset management, such as Affinity, also offer integrations with your existing tech stack and enterprise security and compliance features to protect your clients and investments. 

How is asset management software different from a traditional CRM?

Asset management software is different from a traditional CRM as it’s designed to manage assets rather than relationships with customers. But with investment deals often coming from within a firm’s existing network, asset managers need relationship management solutions to help build stronger relationships with investors and improve deal decision-making. 

Who uses asset management software?

Asset management software are used by asset management firms and investment firms that manage funds on behalf of clients and other investors. This includes internal teams, such as investor relations, investment operations, risk management, and compliance teams. Where an asset management software offers visibility for investors, the software may also be used by clients such as pension funds, wealth funds, endowments, or even high-net-worth individuals.