Unaffiliated general account insurance assets—assets managed by third parties for insurers—rose to $4.5 trillion at the end of 2024, tripling over the past decade, as insurers increasingly rely on external managers.
The findings were reported in Clearwater Analytics’ “2025 Insurance Investment Outsourcing Report,” released Wednesday. Third-party insurance AUM stood at $1.7 trillion in 2015, according to the report.
The report also found $2 trillion in insurance assets under advisement by investment consultants, which Clearwater attributed to consultants working to expand their asset allocation into new categories of investors.
A significant majority of third-party insurance AUM is invested in fixed-income strategies. According to the report, 68.4% of assets are invested in public fixed income, 14.2% in private fixed income, 10.6% in public equities and 6.9% in private equity.
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Despite being a small portion of insurer assets, private assets have surged in insurer portfolios. Over the past decade, different categories of private assets have grown to more than $800 billion from less than $50 billion.
“Private asset class managers are entering the insurance space and insurers are investing,” the report stated. “This shift toward private markets demonstrates insurers’ search for yield and portfolio diversification.”
The five largest insurance asset managers, according to the report, are BlackRock ($711.3 billion in insurance AUM), Goldman Sachs ($459.8 billion), Ostrum Asset Management ($260.4 billion), J.P. Morgan Asset Management ($231.5 billion) and Amundi Investment Solutions (174.9 billion).
According to the report, Mercer advises as an investment consultant on $1.5 trillion in insurance assets—nearly all insurance assets under advisement. Mercer is followed by Mariner Institutional ($268.1 billion insurance AUA), Callan ($66.3 billion), NEPC ($57.9 billion) and Wilshire Advisors ($32 billion).
Clearwater presented the report as a resource for insurers to research asset managers and investment consultants. It provides investment information from more than 100 managers and consultants, including service offerings and AUM details.
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Tags: Clearwater Analytics, insurance, Insurance Outsourcing Report, insurers
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