The Investment COO Summit 2026 is not a general industry conference. It is an invitation-only gathering, limited in size and deliberate in its composition, designed to bring together the most senior operational leaders in asset management for two days of focused, peer-led dialogue. The quality of that dialogue depends entirely on the quality of the people in the room, and that is where the summit's approach sets it apart.
Attendance at the Investment COO Summit is by invitation only. Every participant, whether an investment operations executive or a specialist service provider, is assessed in advance to ensure their profile, priorities, and expertise are aligned with the summit's agenda and with the needs of their fellow attendees.
This process is not a formality. Marcus Evans conducts annual assessments of the strategic goals and operational challenges facing COOs and investment operations leaders across the asset management industry. These assessments inform both the summit's content agenda and its attendee composition, ensuring that the conversations that take place are grounded in current, real-world operational realities.
The result is a gathering where every participant has something substantive to contribute, and where the discussions reflect the actual challenges being faced at the most senior levels of the industry.
The executives who attend the Investment COO Summit hold some of the most demanding roles in asset management. As Chief Operating Officers, Heads of Investment Operations, and Heads of Back Office, they are responsible for the infrastructure, processes, and people that underpin investment performance. They manage the intersection of technology, regulation, data, and talent, often simultaneously, and they are accountable for operational outcomes at a firm-wide level.
These are leaders who do not have time for content that is not directly relevant to their work. The Investment COO Summit is built around that reality. Its sessions are structured to deliver practical insight, facilitate honest peer comparison, and surface actionable strategies that attendees can bring back to their organisations.
In an industry where operational strategies are closely guarded and competitive differentiation often lies in execution, genuine peer exchange is rare. The closed-door format of the Investment COO Summit creates the conditions for it.
When senior leaders know they are speaking with peers who face the same regulatory pressures, the same data governance challenges, and the same questions about AI integration and talent development, the conversations shift. They become more direct, more specific, and more useful. Attendees leave not just with new contacts, but with tested ideas, validated approaches, and a clearer sense of where their own operating models stand relative to the broader industry.
This is the environment that the Investment COO Summit is designed to create, and it is the reason that senior leaders return year after year.
Alongside the executive attendees, the Investment COO Summit brings together a carefully selected group of technology and service providers. These are firms whose offerings are directly aligned with the operational priorities of the COOs and investment operations leaders in attendance.
Their presence is not incidental. In a period where firms are actively evaluating new technologies, reassessing outsourcing arrangements, and seeking partners who understand the complexity of modern investment operations, direct access to informed, relevant solution providers is genuinely valuable. The summit's format ensures that these interactions are substantive rather than transactional, built around shared understanding of the challenges at hand.
The asset management industry is in the middle of a significant operational transition. AI and automation are reshaping workflows. Regulatory demands are expanding. Data environments are growing more complex. The COO role is evolving in response to all of it.
The Investment COO Summit 2026 is designed for exactly this moment. It brings together the people who are leading that transition, in a setting that allows them to do what they do best: think carefully, share honestly, and act decisively.
For those who qualify, it is one of the most valuable two days on the professional calendar.
See the full program of the upcoming Investment COO Summit - Apply here to request more details.