World’s largest asset owners hold record $26.3trn in total assets

Written by Adam Cadle

25/11/2024

The world’s largest 100 asset owners now hold a record $26.3trn in total assets, new research by the Thinking Ahead Institute (TAI) has revealed.

The latest figure for 2023 is a 12.3% YoY increase from 2022.

Ping An had the highest total assets managed among the top 10 insurance companies with US$1,631,192, followed by Allianz SE (Germany) with US$1,087,800 and Berkshire Hathaway with $1,069,978.

China Life, AXA SA (France), Prudential Financial, MetLife, L&G, Manulife Financial Corporation and Power Financial (Canada) made up the rest of the top 10.

Jessica Gao, director at the TAI, commented: “Asset owners globally are navigating a series of waves and occasional storms – from market volatility and geopolitics to technology and structural changes in societies and economies.

“Macro trends matter. Over the last 12 months, the global investment macro environment has been marked by volatility and mixed performance across asset classes. Interest rates reached significant highs in 2023. The first half of 2024 brought some stabilisation in global markets, as base rates remained relatively flat. After a sustained period of elevated rates aimed at controlling inflation, central banks began to implement gradual rate cuts in the latter half of 2024, marking the first reductions in years. However, market volatility remains high with uncertainty due to geopolitical events and several major elections.

“Meanwhile, the rise of political influence amid the increase in geopolitical risks, major elections, and use of monetary policy to tackle inflation has necessitated asset owners to take a more sophisticated approach in managing the intersections between financial return and regulatory compliance. During this period of volatility, leading asset owners strived to balance political influence and achieve positive sustainability impacts, while operating in macroeconomic environments of high uncertainty.”

“Technology and more fundamental change – including to the global climate – are accelerating factors too. Traditional risk management relying heavily on historical data and linear models struggles to keep up with today’s complex, interconnected risks. A new approach will be required to understand and manage risks that arise from complex, systemic sources with limited historical precedent.”

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