IPE institutional market survey: Investment grade credit managers 2026

January/February 2026 (Magazine)

European institutions have been stockpiling investment grade credit, according to this year’s survey of assets held in IG credit strategies. The headline figure for the European institutional segment shows a 27% increase from last year’s survey to €1.63trn. 

Assets increased for the third year in a row, but global assets held in IG credit strategies rose by 5% from last year’s survey. European pension funds hold nearly €500bn of IG credit assets, slightly less than a third of total European institutional assets. The global leaders in this space are PGIM and BlackRock, with the latter closing the gap in recent years, while Amundi’s leadership in Europe seems safe.

Full data access 
This summary shows headline data. The full dataset includes more detailed data on individual managers and is available to subscribers at ipe.com/research. To subscribe to IPE visit ipe.com/membership and for further information about the research or to participate in future surveys, contact [e-mail].