BlackRock, already the world’s largest fund manager, can also boast to being the largest asset manager in Europe.
The firm placed first in the Euro 100, Institutional Investor’s annual ranking of European money managers by assets under management. As of June 30, BlackRock managed $1.35 trillion in European assets, ranking ahead of French giant Amundi, with $1.28 trillion, and Switzerland’s UBS Asset Management, managing $1.27 trillion.
The Euro 100 measures the European assets managed by all investment groups with a presence on the continent, with only European-derived assets included in the totals. Unlike in previous editions of the Euro 100, this year Institutional Investor assessed parent companies and subsidiaries separately in order to better show how much money is managed by distinct asset management platforms.
This meant that last year’s leader, Allianz Group, had its assets divided between bond division Pimco and Allianz GI. PIMCO ranked as the region’s eighth-largest money manager, with $584 billion under manangement, while Allianz came in ninth place with $568.6 billion. The company did not comment by the time of publication.
Last year’s number two, Axa Group, was also impacted by the decision to separate business units in this year’s list. Its Axa Investment Managers division, however, declared assets of $838.8 billion as of June 2017, sufficient to place fifth on the list.
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Firms that improved from 2016 included UBS and Legal & General Investment Management, which rose in this year’s ranking. While UBS edged up one spot to third place, LGIM climbed from eighth place last year to fourth in 2017. Mark Zinkula, chief executive officer at LGIM, said the company had seen a year of inflows across “almost all channels, regions and investment areas,” adding that the business was witnessing demand for multi-asset, liability-driven investment, and index funds.
“We are seeing strong growth in our U.K. defined contribution and retail businesses and are experiencing increasing momentum in all of our target international markets, with particularly strong growth in the U.S.,” he said.
