Systems of Execution in Wealth Management: Enabling Intelligent Execution at Scale

Wealth management enterprises are under increasing pressure to deliver hyper-personalized, real-time experiences to clients, while maintaining compliance and operational efficiency. Traditional enterprise systems, which rely on static data, rigid workflows, and reactive engagement models, are no longer sufficient to meet these demands.

This Viewpoint introduces Systems of Execution (SoE) as a foundational shift in enterprise architecture that enables intelligent execution across the wealth management life cycle. SoE are designed to integrate real-time data, agentic artificial intelligence, and event-driven automation into a unified platform that powers contextual decision-making. These systems move beyond traditional systems of record and systems of engagement by enabling proactive and continuous orchestration of complex processes.

The report presents a detailed architecture of SoE, covering data fabrics, API-first integration, AI governance, and modular execution layers. It outlines a four-phase adoption journey from diagnosis to institutionalization and provides practical examples of how SoE are being used across onboarding, compliance, portfolio rebalancing, and client engagement. A case study of Vanguard illustrates how SoE enable scalable delivery of personalized investment guidance to over one million clients.