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DMS 2026 Research

What 231 professional investors
really think about your
emails, events, and content

Every year we survey professional investors across the US and UK to understand how they actually engage with fund providers: what gets their attention, what earns their trust, and what gets ignored. Here's what we found.

231 professional investors surveyed
US & UK respondents
May 2026 data
3 core challenges identified
83%
check their inbox hourly or more often
82%
read only some or very few of the emails they receive
69%
say fewer, more relevant emails would improve their experience
46%
have noticed a rise in AI-generated content from asset managers

The research points to three challenges every fund marketing team is navigating right now.

Increasing client engagement
Professional investors are harder to reach than ever.
More emails are being sent. Less is being read. The firms closing that gap aren't doing it through better design or higher frequency, they've rethought something more fundamental.
Elevating the client experience
Professional investors expect more than they're getting.
The firms professional investors rate most highly aren't always the biggest or the most prolific. What sets them apart shows up in the details of how they communicate, not just what they say.
Operational Efficiencies
Technology should be helping more.
Professional investors told us exactly where they want technology to step up. The firms responding to those signals are pulling ahead of the ones that aren't.
The bigger picture

Knowing the gaps is one thing. Knowing how the best firms are closing them is another.

DMS 2026 captures the current state of engagement between professional investors and asset managers. Where the gaps are widest, what professional investors say they actually want, and how behavior has shifted since our 2025 research.

But the data only goes so far. For most fund marketing teams, the more useful question isn't what professional investors want in general. It's what the firms they rate most highly are actually doing differently, and whether that's something you can act on.

That's what our sessions are for. We walk through the full findings, share best-practice examples from top firms, and talk through the implications for your team.

We cover this and more in our sessions
The full dataset — complete results across all 24 questions, with the context and interpretation the headline findings don't capture
The winners poll — which firms professional investors rated most highly for email and events, and what they said makes those firms stand out
Best-practice examples — real examples from leading firms, mapped to the three challenges the research identifies
A conversation about your firm — what the findings mean for your market, your audience, and where the biggest opportunities are for you

Get the full picture

Leave your details and we'll be in touch to walk you through the complete findings, the winners poll, and what the leading firms are doing differently.

We'll reach out to arrange a time that works for you.

You'll speak with
MB
Matt Burley
Account Director, UK
WB
Will Butcher
Head of US