Published on December 5th, 2025
By McKenna Keller

To drive real performance in today’s landscape, investment management firms must stop paying the “manual tax.” 

A disconnected stack of spreadsheets and legacy tools is a liability that creates a ceiling on your growth. Beyond the operational headache, disparate systems can introduce errors, test your investors’ patience, and ultimately slow scalability.

While migrating to a new investment management platform can seem like a daunting task, the hidden costs of maintaining outdated infrastructure are far more substantial. Here are 7 hard signs that your current infrastructure is holding you back, and the practical steps you can take to fix them.

1.) Investment Management Inefficiency: Redundant Data Entry

When your investment management, asset management, and property management platforms aren’t integrated, your team is forced to act as the bridge, manually re-entering data that already exists elsewhere. This redundancy is not only inefficient, it’s also inherently risky, as the probability of human error rises.

The AppFolio Investment Manager team spoke with one company that used two different platforms for investor relations/capital and property management. The organization spent up to three days per quarter reconciling and entering distribution payments twice.

In contrast, a fully integrated platform automates the data flow from property-level financials directly to investment-level reporting. In a July 2025 survey of 73 AppFolio Investment Manager customers, 90% reported taking minutes or less to process a distribution for a single investor.

2.) Investment Management Inefficiency: Fragmented Workflows

Similarly, AppFolio has spoken with numerous investment management firms still managing core daily operations through a patchwork of disconnected tools. This includes separate CRMs, e-signature platforms, and spreadsheets.

The resulting fragmented workflows force your team to switch contexts constantly, slowing down critical work. They also create a disjointed investor experience.

Instead, consolidating the tools your firm uses on a daily basis is key to improving overall performance. For example, a July 2025 survey of 77 AppFolio Investment Manager customers found a 48% average improvement in signature collection speed. That one metric could potentially lead to faster fundraising rounds, quicker deal execution, and improved long-term returns.

3.) Investment Management Inefficiency: Manual Investor Service

Today’s investors are after a high-touch experience, with one specifically noting that they expect the same level of access and transparency that they have with their Morgan Stanley accounts.

However, trying to meet this “institutional-grade” expectation through phone calls and emails is a trap. Every minute that skilled investment professionals spend fielding routine inquiries is a minute stolen from higher-value strategic work.

The solution lies in changing the delivery model, so you provide top-tier service without manual intervention.

An advanced investor portal offers the 24/7, self-service access that investors expect without requiring outsized time and attention from firm employees. For example, one investment firm utilizing AppFolio is now able to field an estimated 80% of routine investor requests through their portal, freeing their team to find, create, and finance more deals.

4.) Investment Management Inefficiency: Static Reporting

If your team spends hours manually coordinating spreadsheets and your board waits weeks for updates, the firm is forced to make critical capital calls and dispositions based on lagging data. It’s like steering a cruise ship on a three-month delay.

By moving to dynamic reporting and automating data aggregation, firms can reclaim valuable time and shift into proactivity.

A July 2025 survey of 98 AppFolio Investment Manager customers reported that, on average, they saved 18.1 hours per investor report generated. One specific AppFolio user noted that this degree of automation freed up an entire full-time equivalent for high-value analysis each month. 

5.) Investment Management Inefficiency: Cumbersome Deal Tracking

Managing capital raises through spreadsheets and unencrypted email is a liability. It introduces administrative drag, presents serious security risks, and creates a disjointed experience for investors.

By adopting a modern investment management platform, you replace manual hand-offs with a streamlined digital workflow. Investors can view opportunities, pledge capital, and access wiring instructions securely in one place. 

This eliminates the back-and-forth of manual deal tracking, allowing capital to move faster. For example, a July 2025 survey of 76 AppFolio Investment Manager customers found an average 38% reduction in fundraising cycle time.

6.) Investment Management Inefficiency: Outdated Security Protocols

Modern investors expect institutional-grade security. Unfortunately, some legacy systems can’t evolve as quickly as cyber threats do.

Does your current platform offer critical defences such as Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) or formal compliance certifications? If not, your firm could be vulnerable to operational risk and red flags during due diligence.

Graycliff Capital found that their previous solution functioned fine, but couldn’t provide the “bank-grade security” required by today’s environment. They needed a partner that was upfront about risk management, leading them to AppFolio. 

Modern investment management solutions should come with institutional-grade security markers, like data encryption, security certifications, and MFA. A publicly accessible Trust Center can help further data security goals, as well.

7.) Investment Management Inefficiency: Inability to Scale

Generalist software and rigid legacy systems can lack the specific tools that modern investment management requires. As you launch new funds, these limitations force your team into manual workarounds that simply can’t keep up with the pace of your business.

For example, one firm aiming to more than double their assets under management in a single year realized their manual processes would crumble under that kind of growth. By centralizing fundraising, reporting, and acquisitions onto a single, scalable platform, they were able to support an aggressive expansion strategy without burying their team in administrative work.

Essentially, the right tech partner supports and even furthers your growth. Notably, a July 2025 survey of 84 AppFolio Investment Manager customers showed an average growth of $63M in Equity Under Management (EUM) since adopting AppFolio.

How Modern Investment Management Software Can Streamline Your Business

If these signs feel familiar, the “manual tax” is likely already eating into your margins. 

The solution is a purpose-built, fully integrated platform that secures your data and eliminates the friction of fragmented workflows. By modernizing your infrastructure, you remove the surcharge of inefficiency and free your team to focus on what actually matters: improving asset performance, strengthening investor relationships, and driving long-term growth.

If you’re considering adopting new technology and implementing more current investment management solutions, sign up for a free demo of AppFolio Investment Manager.