In finance, global assets under management consists of assets held by institutional investors and individual investors around the world. For example, these institutional investors include asset management firms, pension funds, endowments, foundations, sovereign wealth funds, hedge funds, and private equity funds. In contrast, individual investors include ultra high-net-worth individuals (UHNWI), high-net-worth individuals (HNWI), the mass affluent, and other retail investors.
Rank | Fund type | US$ billion | Figures as of |
---|---|---|---|
— | Private wealth | $32,800 1 [1] [2] | 2008 |
1 | Pension funds | $62,000 [3] | 2021 |
2 | Banks | $50,600 [4] | 2013 |
3 | Insurance companies | $35,100 [5] | 2020 |
4 | Mutual funds | $23,800 [6] | 2011 |
5 | Real estate | $10,000 [7] [8] | 2006 |
6 | Foreign exchange reserves | $7,341 [9] | February 2008 |
7 | Sovereign wealth funds | $3,980 [10] | 2011 |
8 | Hedge funds | $2,845 [11] | 2014 |
9 | Private equity funds | $1,600 [12] | 2009 |
10 | REITs | $764 [13] | 2007 |
11 | Family Offices | $140 - $420 [4] | 2011 |
Assets by region, 2020 [15] | ||
---|---|---|
Region | Value by region (in US$ billions) | |
North America | 40,000 | |
Europe | 20,000 | |
Middle East | 6,000 | |
Japan and Australia | 5,200 | |
Asia (excluding Japan and Australia) | 5,200 | |
Latin America | 2,000 |
Investor Name | Type | Total assets (US$ billion) |
---|---|---|
BlackRock | AM | 12,000 |
Charles Schwab Corporation | AM | 7,500 |
The Vanguard Group | AM | 7,000 |
People's Bank of China | FOREX | 3,700 |
Fidelity Investments | AM | 3,600 |
Allianz Asset Management (PIMCO + Allianz Global Investors) | AM | 3,400 |
State Street Global Advisors | AM | 3,300 |
Capital Group | AM | 2,300 |
JPMorgan Chase | AM | 2,300 |
BNY Mellon Investment Management | AM | 2,300 |
Goldman Sachs | AM | 2,300 |
Amundi | AM | 2,000 |
Government Pension Investment Fund (Japan) | PEN | 1,370 |
Bank of Japan | FOREX | 1,264 |
Government Pension Fund - Global (Norway) | SWF | 893 |
Government Pension Fund of Norway (Norway) | PEN | 856 |
Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund (United States) | PEN | 832 |
Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (Abu Dhabi) | SWF | 773 |
SAMA Foreign Holdings (Saudi Arabia) | SWF | 757 |
Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority | FOREX | 745 |
UBS Asset Management | AM | 680 [16] |
China Investment Corporation (China) | SWF | 653 |
SAFE Investment Company (China) | SWF | 567 |
Swiss National Bank | FOREX | 531 |
Central Bank of the Russian Federation | FOREX | 429 |
Stichting Pensioenfonds ABP (Netherlands) | PEN | 427 |
National Pension Service (South Korea) | PEN | 400 |
Canada Pension Plan Investment Board | AM | 278 |
Barclays Inverse US Treasury Composite ETN (Blackrock) | MF | 211 |
SPDR S&P 500 (State Street Global Advisors) | MF | 200 |
Bridgewater Associates | HF | 78 |
Bill Gates (Microsoft) | UHNWI | 76 |
Carlos Slim (Grupo Carso/Telemex) | UHNWI | 72 |
Core S&P 500 ETF (Blackrock) | MF | 70 |
Man Group | HF | 65 |
Amancio Ortega (Inditex Group) | UHNWI | 64 |
Warren Buffett (Berkshire Hathaway) | UHNWI | 58 |
iShare MSCI EAFE ETF (Blackrock) | MF | 54 |
Total Stock Market ETF (the Vanguard Group) | MF | 50 |
Larry Ellison (Oracle Corporation) | UHNWI | 48 |
JP Morgan Asset Management | HF | 47 |
Brevan Howard Asset Management | HF | 37 |
TPG Capital | PE | 36 |
the Carlyle Group | PE | 33 |
the Blackstone Group | PE | 30 |
Och-Ziff Capital Management Group | HF | 29 |
Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) | PE | 28 |
Warburg Pincus | PE | 26 |
Global assets under management include both discretionary and non-discretionary assets. However, there are important differences between these two types of assets. Industry standards and guidance to distinguish the two types has been established by Global Investment Performance Standards (GIPS). [17] According to GIPS, discretion refers to the extent to which an organization, for example an asset manager, is permitted to manage the assets and implement its intended investment strategy on behalf of the asset owner. More specifically, discretion refers to the extent to which assets are permitted to be managed, and intended investment strategies are permitted to be implemented, through the decisions and actions of fund managers and general partners (GPs) at the asset manager. [18]
The asset owner ultimately owns the assets. For example, asset owners include institutional limited partners (LPs), such as endowments, foundations, pension funds, and sovereign wealth funds. [19] If restrictions and limitations imposed by the asset owner significantly hinder the organization from fully implementing the intended investment strategy, the assets may be considered non-discretionary. There are degrees of discretion and not all restrictions and limitations will necessarily result in assets being considered non-discretionary. For example, if an asset owner requires that the organization avoid any tobacco-related investments, the organization would first consider if this restriction hinders the implementation of the intended strategy. If it does, the organization would likely classify these assets as non-discretionary.
A concept related to global assets under management in the investment industry is global assets under advisement (AUA). This measures the total market value of the assets that are advised by a financial institution, which is often an investment consultant or other intermediary. In general, the advisory firm does not have discretion to manage the assets. Rather, in a non-discretionary manner, it provides advice and makes recommendations as to how those assets may be managed.
A hedge fund is a pooled investment fund that holds liquid assets and that makes use of complex trading and risk management techniques to improve investment performance and insulate returns from market risk. Among these portfolio techniques are short selling and the use of leverage and derivative instruments. In the United States, financial regulations require that hedge funds be marketed only to institutional investors and high-net-worth individuals.
A pension fund, also known as a superannuation fund in some countries, is any program, fund, or scheme which provides retirement income.
An institutional investor is an entity that pools money to purchase securities, real property, and other investment assets or originate loans. Institutional investors include commercial banks, central banks, credit unions, government-linked companies, insurers, pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, charities, hedge funds, real estate investment trusts, investment advisors, endowments, and mutual funds. Operating companies which invest excess capital in these types of assets may also be included in the term. Activist institutional investors may also influence corporate governance by exercising voting rights in their investments. In 2019, the world's top 500 asset managers collectively managed $104.4 trillion in Assets under Management (AuM).
Investment management is the professional asset management of various securities, including shareholdings, bonds, and other assets, such as real estate, to meet specified investment goals for the benefit of investors. Investors may be institutions, such as insurance companies, pension funds, corporations, charities, educational establishments, or private investors, either directly via investment contracts/mandates or via collective investment schemes like mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, or Real estate investment trusts.
Pacific Investment Management Company LLC is an American investment management firm focusing on active fixed income management worldwide. PIMCO manages investments in many asset classes such as fixed income, equities and other financial assets across public and private markets. PIMCO is one of the largest investment managers, actively managing more than $2 trillion in assets for central banks, sovereign wealth funds, pension funds, corporations, foundations and endowments, and individual investors around the world. According to the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute, PIMCO is the 6th-largest asset manager in the world by managed AUM.
Permal Group is a global investment management firm focused on hedge funds and private equity funds products for international investors. Permal, founded in 1973, operates one of the oldest fund of hedge funds and manages approximately $22 billion in assets. Clients include sovereign wealth funds, pension funds, endowments, foundations, insurance companies, family offices, private banks and high-net-worth individuals. Its CEO is Omar Kodmani and its Chairman is Isaac R. Souede. Permal is headquartered in London, with offices in New York, Boston, Singapore, Paris, Nassau, Dubai, Hong Kong, and Beijing.
Wilshire Associates, Inc. is an American independent investment management firm that offers consulting services and analytical products and manages fund of funds investment vehicles for a global client base. Wilshire manages capital for more than 600 institutional investors globally representing more than $8 trillion of capital. Wilshire is also known for the creation of the Wilshire 5000 stock index in 1974 and more recently the Wilshire 4500 stock index.
In finance, assets under management (AUM), sometimes called fund under management, refers to the total market value of all financial assets that a financial institution—such as a mutual fund, venture capital firm, or depository institution—or a decentralized network protocol manages and invests, typically on behalf of its clients. Funds may be managed for clients, platform users, or solely for themselves, such as in the case of a financial institution which has mutual funds or holds its own venture capital. The definition and formula for calculating AUM may differ from one entity to another.
Bridgewater Associates, LP is an American investment management firm founded by Ray Dalio in 1975. The firm serves institutional clients including pension funds, endowments, foundations, foreign governments, and central banks. As at December 2023, Bridgewater ranks as the fourth most profitable hedge fund manager in history by absolute dollar returns. The firm began as an institutional investment advisory service, graduated to institutional investing, and pioneered the risk parity investment approach in 1996.
Wellington Management Company is a private, independent investment management firm with client assets under management totaling over US$1 trillion based in Boston, Massachusetts, United States.
"Manager of managers" (MoM) is an investment approach by institutions who proprietary manage capital. Different investment managers are selected and investment mandates given to them. The allocated capital is then managed in Separate Managed Accounts by the respective selected asset managers. It is a solution often offered by big asset management divisions from investment banks but also independent alternative asset managers like hedge fund firms or private equity firms. The solution is typically applied by investors when investing in alternatives as simple investments as government bonds or money market investments can be managed by one single asset management firm like BlackRock.
A sovereign wealth fund (SWF), or sovereign investment fund is a state-owned investment fund that invests in real and financial assets such as stocks, bonds, real estate, precious metals, or in alternative investments such as private equity funds or hedge funds. Sovereign wealth funds invest globally. Most SWFs are funded by revenues from commodity exports or from foreign exchange reserves held by the central bank.
An alternative investment, also known as an alternative asset or alternative investment fund (AIF), is an investment in any asset class excluding capital stocks, bonds, and cash.
Impact investing refers to investments "made into companies, organizations, and funds with the intention to generate a measurable, beneficial social or environmental impact alongside a financial return". At its core, impact investing is about an alignment of an investor's beliefs and values with the allocation of capital to address social and/or environmental issues.
The Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute is an American corporation analyzing public asset owners such as sovereign wealth funds and other long-term governmental investors. Initially, the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute focused solely on sovereign wealth funds. It has branched out to cover all types of public institutional investors. The institute sells its subscription and API/datafeed services as a financial data vendor but provides information to the media as well.
Investment outsourcing is the process whereby institutional investors and high-net-worth families engage a third party to manage all or a portion of their investment portfolio. This arrangement can include functions such as establishing the asset allocation, selecting investment managers, implementing portfolio decisions, providing on-going oversight, performing risk management and other areas of portfolio management.
Steven Edward Drobny is an American hedge fund advisor and published author. He is the founder of Clocktower Group, a consulting and investment advisory business focused on fundamental discretionary global macro and commodity hedge fund strategies. Drobny is the author of The Invisible Hands: Top Hedge Funds on Bubbles, Crashes and Rethinking Real Money and Inside the House of Money: Top Hedge Fund Traders on Profiting in the Global Markets
GoldenTree Asset Management is an American asset management firm that was founded in 2000. The firm has its headquarters in New York City and offices in West Palm Beach, Florida, Charlotte, North Carolina, Dublin, London, Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo, and Dubai.
Geode Capital Management, LLC (Geode) is an American investment management firm based in Boston, Massachusetts.