The amount of global insurance company assets outsourced to US fund managers reached a record high of $886 billion in 2005, increasing 31 per cent, according to a newly-published survey by Insurance Asset Managers.
The survey predicts the pace will continue rising in 2006.
The 41 firms that participated in the survey had $2.2 trillion in managed insurance assets, which was also a record. The $2.2 trillion consisted of $634 billion of insurance companies general account assets, $252 billion of sub-advised assets and $1.3 billion in non-competitive affiliated assets.
“The external insurance asset management market is starting to approach the size of the hedge fund market,” says Alex McCallum, IAM’s editor who coordinated the survey. “Following the strong year in 2005 for insurance asset managers, 2006 is shaping up to be even more impressive, based on the provisional data we have collected.”
The top five asset managers in IAM’s survey (non-affiliated general account assets) were: Deutsche Asset Management, $142 billion; BlackRock, $91 billion; Conning Asset Management, $53billion; Wellington Management Company, $50 billion and General Re-New England Asset Management, $45 billion.
A second ranking combining sub advised with general account non-affiliated assets was headed by Wellington Management Company, $148billion; Deutsche Asset Management, $144 billion; BlackRock, $117billion; Western Asset Management, $64 billion and Conning Asset Management, $53 billion.
IAM said the 2006 results will reflect multiple changes, including multi-billion dollar asset gains by Western Asset Management and BlackRock, along with Legg Mason’s purchase of Citigroup Asset Management and Merrill Lynch Investment Managers merger with BlackRock.