On February 11, Italy's five listed asset managers disclosed combined net inflows of 3.15 billion euros ($3.25 billion) in January, a significant increase from the 1.19 billion euros reported in January 2024.
The data revealed that net inflows into managed assets surged to a total of 1.72 billion euros, a positive shift from the 215.7 million outflow recorded last year.
The fund management industry is facing pressure to consolidate in response to growing technological investments and rising competition from low-margin passive products and other more economical investment options like government bonds. Despite declining interest rates, banks are turning to asset management to boost their revenues. In November, Italy's Banco BPM, the third-largest bank, initiated a bid to acquire full control of the fund manager Anima Holding.
In a significant move, Italy's leading insurer Generali, along with the French bank BPCE, signed a non-binding agreement in January with the goal of creating Europe's largest asset manager by revenue.
Regarding specific companies, Anima's positive performance in January was highlighted by Intermonte, stating, "January data showed a clear improvement on previous months." Banca Mediolanum's strong net inflows in January were noted by Equita as "very positive in a seasonally softer month and up compared to January 2024."
UniCredit, a major Italian bank, made strategic moves in September and November, including the thwarting of BPM's bid for Anima. Notably, UniCredit's actions led France's Credit Agricole to increase its stake in Banco BPM from 9.9% to 15.1%.
Additionally, notable Italian financial investors Francesco Gaetano Caltagirone and the holding company of late tycoon Leonardo Del Vecchio have recently increased their investments in MPS and Anima.
The M&A activity continued in 2025 with three takeover attempts in the Italian banking sector involving Banca Ifis, MPS, Mediobanca, BPER Banca, and Banca Popolare di Sondrio.
($1 = 0.9704 euros)