As investment firms scale globally, operations leaders are facing two simultaneous pressures: ensuring seamless service delivery across time zones, and future-proofing their internal data ecosystems. For firms based in Asia but operating globally, the balance between outsourcing and in-house capabilities—and between institutional knowledge and AI—is becoming more strategic than ever.

In our latest conversation with Stephen Hull, COO, Zerobridge Partners, two themes emerged clearly: accountability in outsourcing, and the urgent need to modernize internal knowledge management.

Accountability Over Everything: A New Lens on Outsourcing

For this global investment firm, outsourcing isn’t just an operational convenience—it’s a deliberate strategy. But the criteria for choosing outsourcing partners are evolving beyond cost and capability.

“Our model is outsourcing-friendly, and our operations professionals are here to select and manage those partners. Accountability is my key selection factor—who owns my business and who can I pick up the phone to when things go wrong?”

While larger service providers offer scale, brand alignment, and resilience through deeper tech and talent pools, the relationship must feel personal and responsive. A global partner may tick the boxes on paper, but if there’s no clear accountability—no single point of ownership—the risk profile increases.

Stephen also emphasized the importance of long-term alignment: “After accountability comes global scale, fees, and alignment with our business goals—can we grow with each other?”

This view challenges the notion that outsourcing is purely transactional. Instead, it’s a relationship built on shared growth, mutual visibility, and operational resilience.

Moving Beyond “Institutional Memory”: The Case for AI in Ops and Compliance

On the other end of the spectrum, the conversation turned inward—to how internal data and knowledge are managed across operations, compliance, and legal teams.

“Right now, everyone relies too heavily on the fabled ‘institutional knowledge’ of employees. That brings key person risk, and it’s inefficient. We’re often searching for contract language from previous deals through meetings and conversations that start with “it’s a bit like…”.

The firm has already started using AI in research and marketing, but the next frontier is clear: tools that enhance searchability, structure, and scalability of internal data. From smarter compliance reporting to contract traceability, AI has the potential to replace vague recollections with sharp prompts and faster answers.

“Smart prompts in this area could really scale things up for us. At the same time, client confidentiality is always paramount so we need to identify tools that are robust from a cybersecurity standpoint and not just choose the first thing off the shelf.”

This shift from anecdotal knowledge to intelligent systems represents one of the biggest operational opportunities on the horizon—not just for small firms, but for the broader investment ecosystem.

The Bigger Picture: Operational Excellence in a Global Context

As investment operations becomes more strategic, the conversation is no longer just about automation or vendor consolidation. It’s about building an ecosystem—both external and internal—that can scale, respond, and evolve.

Whether that means choosing a service provider who answers the phone at midnight, or finding a way to surface contract history in seconds, the message is clear: resilience is built on systems, relationships, and a clear sense of ownership.

Zerobridge Partners is a Hong Kong headquartered investment firm focused on ABL and specialty finance forms of credit across the globe. Wrapping up the discussion, Stephen expressed excitement about the future and is keen to meet potential partners that can help rapidly scale their business for the next five years and beyond.

Stay tuned as we continue to explore how investment operations leaders are redefining best practices in the lead-up to InvestOps Asia 2025.