Europe and the UK now account for 38% of reported outsourced insurance assets, closing in on North America’s 45% share, new survey data from Clearwater Analytics has revealed.
The firm’s latest Insurance Investment Outsourcing Report stated that assets managed on behalf of European and UK insurers more than doubled between 2021 and 2025, rising from around $1trn to $2.1trn. That compares with an increase from $1.8trn to $2.4trn in North America over the same period.
The increase reflects both growth among existing participants and the addition of large managers to the survey.
Across the global survey, private assets have risen from just 5% of reported assets in 2016 to 23% in 2025, as insurers seek additional yield, diversification and specialist investment strategies.
“The use of external managers was once dominated by smaller non-life insurers. It has evolved to include insurers of all types and sizes,” said Steve Doire, author of the research and strategic adviser to Clearwater Analytics.
“Some insurers outsource most of their portfolio, while others use managers to extend their asset allocation into asset classes where they lack capabilities.
“Europe and the UK now represent a much larger share of the outsourced insurance assets captured by the report. While some of that reflects growth among existing managers, the expanding number of managers reporting European insurance assets also tells us that insurance investment outsourcing is becoming an increasingly global market.
“The private markets boom is central to all this. Private credit and other less liquid assets require specialist underwriting and monitoring. Rather than trying to build all of that expertise in house, insurers are increasingly renting it from specialist managers,” added Doire.
The report included 96 insurance asset managers and 12 insurance investment consultants.
