Largest Managers' Assets Grew 12.5% in 2023 to $128T

The world’s 500 largest asset management firms held $128 trillion in discretionary assets under management at the end of 2023, a 12.5% increase from the year prior, according to research from WTW’s Thinking Ahead Institute. The largest 20 asset managers accounted for 45.5% of total AUM, or $58.2 trillion.

The next largest 30 managers—those ranked from 21 to 50—managed 20.1% of total assets, and the next largest 200 managers held 29% of all assets. The remainder, ranked from 251 to 500 and making up half of the study, held only 5.4% of total assets.

The largest asset managers, as of the end of 2023, were BlackRock ($10 trillion), Vanguard ($8.59 trillion), Fidelity Investments ($4.58 trillion), State Street Global ($4.12 trillion) and JPMorganChase ($3.42 trillion), all U.S. firms.

U.S.-based asset managers accounted for 14 of the 20 largest asset managers, with the rest being European. UBS ranked seventh, with $2.62 trillion in AUM, followed by Allianz in ninth ($2.45 trillion), Amundi ranked 10th ($2.25 trillion), Legal and General Group 13th ($1.47 trillion), BNP Paribas 19th ($1.36 trillion) and Natixis Investment Managers 20th ($1.28 trillion).

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North American asset managers saw their assets grow the most, increasing 15% over the course of 2023. European assets rose 12.4%, while Japanese assets declined 0.7%. For managers based in the rest of the world, assets increased by 3.2%.

Among the 20 largest asset managers, 12 are independent asset managers, six are banks and two are insurer-owned managers.

Asset Allocation

Equities and fixed income were the dominant asset classes worldwide, accounting for 48.3% and 29% of all assets, respectively. Approximately 9% of global assets were in cash, 5.9% were allocated to alternatives and 8.3% to “other assets,” a category which included balanced funds, multi-asset funds, infrastructure, private debt, derivatives and commodities.

According to WTW, asset managers are increasing their investments in passive strategies, which comprise of 33.7% of total assets, an increase of 6.1 percentage points from the end of 2022. Actively managed assets, which make up 66.3%, decreased by 2.9 percentage points.

“The shift from active to passive funds has been ongoing, with net flows into passive strategies steadily increasing as they continue to offer a compelling value proposition, particularly in terms of lower fees and simplicity,” the report stated. “Despite growing market volatility, which typically highlights the need for expertise to outperform benchmarks, passive investing continues to capture a substantial market share, especially in the U.S.”