Why workflow orchestration is essential for fund administrators (2026)

Running corporate and fund administration operations used to be straightforward. You had clients, you had processes, and spreadsheets and emails got the job done.

Not anymore.

Today, every client needs something different. Regulations keep changing across jurisdictions, every client has different SLAs, and you're handling more data than ever before.

Manual processes don't just slow you down, they stop you from scaling profitably. The consequences can be serious. A recently published Fund Admin report from The Drawdown found that as many as 65% of fund administrators face uncomfortable client conversations due to manual process errors, 61% lose internal credibility, and 54% trigger reputational or compliance issues. One administrator reported witnessing a waterfall model error that was off by 10%, resulting in a $20 million overpayment.

These statistics, together with the current service environment demonstrate why workflow orchestration in fund administration is essential, not just a nice-to-have. It's crucial infrastructure to grow profitably in 2026 and beyond.

Why fund administrators need process orchestration

Corporate and fund administrators are getting squeezed from every direction.

Clients are willing to pay less as fund administration becomes a commodity. On top of that, your costs keep rising – staff, systems, compliance. And last but not least: larger competitors are using their scale to deliver the same service for less.

Which means maintaining a 25% margin while you scale is nearly impossible without orchestration.

That’s because purely running your business on spreadsheets and emails works great until..

• Every client needs something different – their own workflows, SLAs, and reports
• You're managing regulatory requirements across multiple jurisdictions, each with different rules
• Clients expect real-time visibility and faster turnarounds
• You’re handling more data than you can process manually – custodians, market data feeds, and client sources all sending information your team can't keep up with
• Competitors who built their operations on modern, agile platforms start winning on price

That's when manual processes break. The Drawdown's 2025 Fund Administration Report confirms what you're already probably experiencing, 59% of fund administrators deal with delays, confusion, and costly rework from manual process errors. Another 61% rely on manual secondary reviews to catch mistakes – a safety net that works, but one that gets more expensive with every new client you onboard. When you hit that breaking point, you either orchestrate your operations or accept that you can't scale profitably.

Kiran Sinharoy, Managing Director at Vistra, put it plainly when we interviewed her recently: "There's no concept of orchestration being a luxury. You need to treat it not as an option, but as a necessity."

What orchestration actually does for fund administrators

Manual processes break down as you grow. Especially when every new client brings their own SLA requirements, regulatory needs, and workflow variations. The more you scale, the more time your team spends coordinating work between systems rather than delivering value.

Orchestration changes the fund administration infrastructure for the better. A solution like Enate handles each client's requirements automatically. It routes work to the right teams based on who's available and who has the expertise. And it tracks every SLA across your operation in real-time.

It also lets you see at a glance which deliverables are approaching deadlines, where bottlenecks are forming, and which teams need support.

Vistra operates across more than 45 jurisdictions, handling thousands of client entities. Kiran explains, "With Enate, our operational managers and leaders can see how to manage workload, how to manage volumes, and what the blockers are. That visibility has helped us identify where to implement full case management, because we can now see the end-to-end processes and touch points, not just the volume of tickets."

Spreadsheets can't give you that visibility. They can't route work intelligently. And they can't scale without adding proportional headcount. That's the difference orchestration makes.

Why acting now matters

The early adopters of orchestration have built real advantages over their competitors. Firms like TMF Group and Vistra are using it to onboard clients quickly, manage work across jurisdictions and scale without needing to double their team size.

The rest of the fund administration market is splitting into two groups.

Current adopters see orchestration as necessary and are rolling it out now. They're catching up to early adopters by putting the infrastructure in place to grow profitably. You can still gain an advantage, but that window is closing as more firms adopt.

Laggards, on the other hand, are going to find it harder and harder to compete on margins and efficiency. Their clients will expect real-time visibility into their portfolios and faster processing times they won’t be able to provide. Their team will wonder why they’re still juggling spreadsheets and emails in 2026. And competitors running more efficiently will eat into their margins.

The question isn't whether to adopt orchestration. It's whether you'll do it while there’s still an advantage to be gained.

How Vistra's leadership came to see orchestration as essential

When Vistra first looked at orchestration, the price tag was a sticking point. It looked like an expensive optional tool that needed justifying against other priorities.

Kiran Sinharoy, Managing Director at Vistra, describes how the conversation shifted: "When we introduced Enate to one of our practice leads who oversees 20% of our global revenue, he initially saw it as expensive. I told him: ‘Think about it as a Microsoft subscription or your iCloud subscription, it's something you need to run your business.’ That's when it clicked."

The realisation wasn't about what orchestration could do. It was about what happens when you try to run a global fund administration operation without it.

Within nine months, Vistra hit 500% ROI and cut costs by 15%. They've expanded from an initial rollout to 500 users, with plans to reach 2,500 in 2026.

Why Enate is the perfect platform for fund administration firms

Enate isn't a generic workflow tool that's been adapted to fund administration. It's built for how fund administration actually works – managing work across jurisdictions, handling each client's specific workflows, and keeping up with regulatory requirements.

It's helped TMF Group and Vistra to manage work across timezones and borders without work getting lost in handoffs or SLAs slipping through the cracks.

Your competitors are already making this shift.

Check eligibility, or request a free trial to see how Enate provides the infrastructure fund administrators need to scale profitably.