Market volatility took a toll on several global asset managers last year, according to IPE’s Top 400 survey for 2019, with six of the top 10 groups reporting a lower AUM figure for 2019 compared with the previous year.

BlackRock, State Street Global Advisors (SSGA), BNY Mellon Investment Management, Capital Group, PIMCO and Amundi all reported lower AUM at the end of 2018. Last year, four of the top 10 reported a year-on-year fall in AUM.

However, the total AUM of the top 10 global asset managers in IPE’s annual ranking was roughly stable at €22.3trn. The share of assets managed by the top 10 managers was also stable compared with last year, at 33.7%.

For the sixth year running, the top five biggest managers are BlackRock, with €5.3trn under management, Vanguard (€4.3trn), SSGA (€2.2trn), Fidelity Investments (€2.1trn) and BNY Mellon Investment Management (€1.5trn). BlackRock experienced the largest inflows out of the overall ranking during 2018, raising more than €100bn in assets.

Top 10 global asset managers

IPE Top 400 Asset Managers survey 2019
Company 2019 AUM (€bn)2018 AUM (€bn)Change
BlackRock 5,251.2 5,315.4 -1.2%
Vanguard 4,257.2 4,090.0 +4.1%
SSGA 2,196.8 2,316.5 -5.2%
Fidelity Investments 2.096.6 2,003.3 +4.7%
BNY Mellon IM 1,498.2 1,585.9 -5.5%
JP Morgan AM 1,486.0 1,471.2 +1%
Capital Group 1,467.3 1,504.4 -2.5%
PIMCO  1,451.7 1,462.4 -0.7%
Amundi  1,425.1 1,426.1 -0.1%
PGIM  1,204.8 1,160.6 +3.8%

Most of the top 10 managers retained their ranking from last year’s survey. Only JP Morgan Asset Management managed to climb one spot to sixth place, overtaking Capital Group.

Figures for the fiduciary AUM of both Mercer and Willis Towers Watson were included in IPE’s survey for the first time this year. Mercer was listed as the 82nd largest firm by assets, with €199.7bn under management, while Willis Towers Watson ranked 163rd with €77.5bn.

The overall AUM of global managers grew by just over 1% to €66.4trn. The pace of growth is slowed significantly compared with the past three years: AUM grew by nearly 4% in 2018 and and more than 12% in 2017.  

This contrasts with the growth of assets managed on behalf of European institutional investors. European institutional assets grew 12% to €10.2trn in a significant reversal from last year’s survey, which reported a 2.2% fall in AUM.

The 2019 ranking of the 10 largest managers of European institutional assets is strikingly different from last year’s. BlackRock and Legal & General Investment Management maintained the top two spots, with €902bn and €808bn of AUM respectively.

However, BNY Mellon IM replaced its subsidiary company Insight Investment in third place, having failed to report the figure in 2018 – although BNY’s €679bn figure includes Insight’s assets. PIMCO took fifth place, pushing APG Asset Management down one spot. Affiliated Managers Group entered the top 10, having reported European institutional assets as a separate figure for the first time.

This article was updated on 6 June to clarify the relationship between Insight Investment and BNY Mellon IM.

Click here to download the complete Top 400 table

Top 400 2019

Further reading

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Top 400 Asset Managers: AUM grows 1% amid market volatility