Six Reasons Why Investment Managers Are Moving Away from Legacy RFP Tools

1. Legacy RFP tools haven’t kept pace

A consistent theme across firms is that legacy RFP response software is no longer meeting the demands of today’s investor relations teams.

While these tools help store and retrieve content, they do little to improve the RFP response process itself. Workflows remain manual, responses are still assembled from multiple sources, and teams rely heavily on individual knowledge to locate and reuse information.

As expectations around AI, automation, and data integration increase, these limitations become more visible. For many firms, this is what drives the decision to move. The process is too slow, too fragmented, and too difficult to scale using legacy tools.

2. Speed to first draft is the biggest unlock in RFP automation

The most immediate improvement teams highlight is speed to first draft.

Rather than manually searching through past responses and rebuilding answers, teams can generate a structured starting point in minutes using approved content. This is where modern RFP automation tools are having the greatest impact.

This shift changes the dynamic of the entire RFP and DDQ process. Instead of spending hours assembling responses, teams begin with a strong draft and focus on refining it.

In practice, the first draft is often the most time-intensive stage of the workflow. Reducing that effort accelerates everything that follows, from internal review cycles to final submission.

Even in the early stages of adoption, this creates measurable efficiency gains. As content libraries mature, those gains increase significantly.

5. The role of integration and ecosystem in modern RFP software

Beyond internal efficiency, firms are also placing more value on connected workflows.

Investor relations teams operate across a broader ecosystem that includes consultants, allocators, and data platforms. As these stakeholders adopt more structured processes, the need for integrated RFP and DDQ solutions increases.

Integrations with platforms such as Nasdaq eVestment allow data to flow directly into RFP responses, reducing duplication and ensuring consistency across submissions.

At the same time, the emergence of shared platforms is changing how requests are managed. When RFPs and DDQs are sent and completed within the same platform, workflows become more efficient and aligned across all participants.

This is where industry-specific platforms stand apart. Solutions designed specifically for investment managers are better aligned to the nuances of RFPs, DDQs, and consultant database workflows, and are increasingly used across both sides of the process.

This shift toward a connected, investment-focused ecosystem is becoming a key differentiator in RFP software selection.

6. Choosing RFP technology that evolves with the industry

A further consideration for firms is how their RFP and DDQ technology will evolve over time.

Legacy platforms were designed to digitise manual processes rather than transform them. As a result, they often lack the flexibility, integration capabilities, and AI-driven functionality required for modern workflows.

Firms are now prioritising platforms that:

• Continuously evolve with AI and automation
• Support structured data and scalable workflows
• Integrate with key investor and consultant systems

The decision is increasingly about selecting RFP software that can support long-term investor relations strategy, not just immediate operational needs.

A structural shift in RFP and DDQ management

What these changes point to is a broader shift in how investment managers approach RFPs and DDQs.

Teams are moving away from fragmented, manual processes toward structured, repeatable workflows supported by modern RFP automation tools. The focus is shifting from rebuilding responses to maintaining and refining high-quality content over time.

This is a structural change in how investor relations teams manage data, collaborate internally, and respond to investor requests at scale.

If you are reviewing your RFP and DDQ process, book a demo to learn more about how Dasseti ENGAGE supports investor relations teams with RFP automation, structured content management, and scalable investor communication workflows.