Investor types

Asset managers

Asset managers invest money on behalf of others, across listed securities and, increasingly, private markets. This page sets out how large the industry is, how it is organised and how traditional and alternative managers participate in private markets.

What an asset manager is

An asset manager invests third-party money under segregated mandates and through pooled funds, in return for fees. Traditional managers concentrate on listed equities and bonds, in both active and passive strategies. Alternative managers, such as Blackstone, concentrate on private markets and hedge funds. Unlike banks, asset managers do not take deposits or lend from their own balance sheet: the assets belong to their clients.

Asset managers differ from asset owners, such as pension funds, insurance companies and sovereign wealth funds, whose capital they manage. They also differ from wealth managers, which advise individual clients and select funds for them, and from hedge funds, which run concentrated liquid strategies, often with leverage.

Scale: global and by region

The 500 largest asset managers held US$139.9 trillion of assets under management at the end of 2024, up 9.4% on 2023, according to the Thinking Ahead Institute and Pensions & Investments study published on 10 November 2025.¹ BCG estimates that global assets under management reached US$147 trillion in 2025, up 11%, as reported by Walnut in October 2026.²

By region, North American managers held US$88.2 trillion, or 63.0% of the top 500 total, after growth of 13.3% in 2024.³ European managers, including those in the UK, held US$35.2 trillion, up 3.9%.^3,4 Japanese managers held US$5.2 trillion after a 9.5% decline, the only region to shrink in 2024, and managers in the rest of the world held US$11.3 trillion.⁴

In the UK, members of the Investment Association managed £4.4 trillion of UK institutional client assets at the end of 2025, up 14% from £3.8 trillion in 2024. Pension schemes accounted for 51% of those assets and insurance clients for 26%.⁵ Swiss managers include UBS Asset Management, listed in the examples table below.

Ownership and sub-types

Asset managers are owned in three main ways. Of the 20 largest, 12 are independent asset managers, 6 are owned by banks and 2 are owned by insurers.³

By strategy, the industry divides into three models. Passive managers run low-cost index funds and exchange-traded funds. Active traditional managers research listed equities and bonds to outperform a benchmark, through institutional mandates and retail funds. Alternative managers specialise in private equity, private credit, real estate, infrastructure and hedge fund strategies, mostly through closed-end funds and mandates.

Source of capital and investment horizon

An asset manager's capital belongs to its clients, delivered through segregated mandates and pooled funds. Institutional clients include pension funds, insurers, endowments and sovereign wealth funds; retail clients reach managers through funds and wealth platforms. The horizon depends on the product: daily-dealing funds give clients liquidity at short notice, semi-liquid funds allow periodic redemptions and closed-end private markets funds lock capital up for years. Passive strategies accounted for 39.0% of top 500 assets at the end of 2024, an increase of 6.1% in their share.³

How asset managers invest in private markets

Asset managers have expanded into private markets, where fees are higher than in listed strategies. They participate in two ways: as managers of private funds and mandates for institutional clients (mainly in private credit and direct lending, infrastructure and real estate) and as distributors of private markets products to wealth clients. According to McKinsey, custom options, meaning separately managed accounts and side arrangements, were the largest and fastest-growing category of alternative assets, growing 10% to 15% in 2025.⁶ Interval and tender-offer funds and business development companies (BDCs), semi-liquid vehicles aimed at wealth clients, grew 20% to 25%.⁶

The wealth channel is now material for the largest alternative managers. In the United States, retail capital flowing into alternative structures reached US$204 billion in 2025, more than double the 2023 level of US$92 billion, according to McKinsey.⁷ Blackstone reported private wealth assets under management of US$330 billion in Q3 2026, up 15% year on year, according to the transcript of its 22 October 2026 earnings call.⁸

How decisions are made

In listed strategies, investment decisions are taken by the portfolio manager responsible for the fund or mandate, within risk limits set against a benchmark and the terms agreed with the client. In private markets units, decisions are taken by investment committees, often separate committees for credit and for equity. Due diligence on a private loan or infrastructure investment covers the quality of earnings, cash flow forecasts, the structure of security and the terms of the financial covenants.

What asset managers look for and why they decline

An asset manager can invest only where the opportunity fits the mandate or fund it is investing for, in asset class, liquidity, size and risk, so fit with a specific product is the first test. In private lending and infrastructure, managers look for predictable cash flow, sufficient cover for interest and repayments, conservative leverage and clear governance. They commonly decline transactions that are too small for the fund, businesses with weak conversion of profit into cash, opaque legal structures and illiquid investments that do not pay a sufficient premium for the lack of liquidity.

Regulation and governance

Asset managers are regulated in each jurisdiction where they manage or distribute funds. In the European Union and the UK, conduct rules derive from MiFID II and product rules from the UCITS and alternative investment fund managers regimes. In Switzerland, managers of collective investment schemes must be authorised by FINMA under the Financial Institutions Act.⁹ In the United States, investment advisers owe fiduciary duties under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940.

Three product regimes give retail and wealth investors access to private markets: the long-term asset fund (LTAF) in the UK, the European long-term investment fund (ELTIF) in the European Union and interval funds under the Investment Company Act of 1940 in the United States.⁶ Listed managers, such as Blackstone, also publish their assets under management in regulatory filings.¹⁰

Trends in 2025 and 2026

The industry is concentrating. The top 20 managers' share of top 500 assets rose from 45.5% in 2023 to 47.0% in 2024, with their combined assets rising 12.9% to US$65.8 trillion.³ Consolidation among alternative managers accelerated: according to McKinsey, total M&A deal value involving the top 100 alternative asset managers acquiring other asset managers reached approximately US$34 billion in 2025, close to double the 2024 level of approximately US$18 billion.⁷

Private markets specialists are growing fastest. The Thinking Ahead Institute found that large private-market specialists have grown significantly faster than managers of traditional asset classes over the past decade. Brookfield's assets under management grew from US$240 billion in 2017 to US$1,061 billion in 2024, a 20% annualised increase.³ The same study notes that large private markets firms are expanding into wealth and retail channels, and that evergreen and interval funds, continuation funds and secondary transactions have become more prevalent.³

Notable examples

Manager	Headquarters	Size and date
BlackRock	New York	US$11.55 trillion at 31 December 2024¹¹
Vanguard	United States	US$10.11 trillion at 31 December 2024¹¹
Fidelity Investments	Boston	US$5.52 trillion at 31 December 2024¹¹
State Street Investment Management	Boston	US$4.72 trillion at 31 December 2024¹¹
Amundi	Paris	€2,581 billion at 30 June 2026¹²
UBS Asset Management	Zurich	US$2,201 billion invested assets at 30 September 2026¹³
Schroders	London	£867.8 billion at 30 June 2026, according to Professional Adviser, 30 July 2026¹⁴
Blackstone	New York	US$1,346.3 billion at 30 June 2026;¹⁰ nearly US$1.4 trillion at 30 September 2026¹⁵
Brookfield	Toronto	US$1,061 billion in 2024³

The first four figures are on the Thinking Ahead Institute and Pensions & Investments basis, as reported by AllTheTopTen; the others are as each manager reports them. The table is not a ranking and implies no recommendation.

How advisers work with asset managers

Investment banks and advisers deal with traditional managers mainly through equity and bond placements, in which managers buy listed securities for their funds. In private markets, advisers approach the heads of a manager's private credit, infrastructure or private equity teams directly with information packs and financial models, to arrange debt financing or minority equity investment. Asset managers also appear in private markets transactions as limited partners in funds and as co-investors, and their private markets arms raise capital in the same way as other private equity firms.

Anglo-Suisse Capital advises on capital raising, M&A and secondary transactions with professional investors.

Frequently asked questions

How much money do the world's largest asset managers manage?

The 500 largest held US$139.9 trillion at the end of 2024, up 9.4%, according to the Thinking Ahead Institute.¹

How concentrated is the asset management industry?

The top 20 managers held 47.0% of top 500 assets at the end of 2024, or US$65.8 trillion.³

How much do asset managers manage for UK institutions?

Investment Association members managed £4.4 trillion of UK institutional client assets at the end of 2025, of which pension schemes accounted for 51%.⁵

Are large asset managers moving into private markets?

Yes. The Thinking Ahead Institute found that private-market specialists have outgrown traditional managers, with Brookfield growing from US$240 billion in 2017 to US$1,061 billion in 2024.³

Are alternative asset managers consolidating?

Yes. M&A by the top 100 alternative asset managers acquiring other managers reached approximately US$34 billion in 2025, close to double 2024, according to McKinsey.⁷

What vehicles give wealth clients access to private markets?

Semi-liquid vehicles such as interval funds, tender-offer funds and BDCs, which grew 20% to 25% in 2025 according to McKinsey.⁶ In the UK the equivalent wrapper is the LTAF and in the European Union the ELTIF.

What share of assets is managed passively?

Passive strategies accounted for 39.0% of top 500 assets at the end of 2024.³

Working with Anglo-Suisse Capital

Anglo-Suisse Capital advises companies, fund managers and shareholders on capital raising, M&A and secondary transactions with professional investors in the UK, Switzerland and internationally.

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Sources

This page is general information for professional investors and is not investment advice. Figures are taken from the sources listed, as at the dates stated.