BNP Paribas Cardif’s acquisition of AXA Investment Managers (AXA IM) closed on 1 July 2025, AXA IM becomes a BNP Paribas Group entity : a major milestone for the Bank, which expands its global asset management footprint and strengthens its commitment to better serve clients. Find more details below.

Asset management involves creating, managing, and optimising real estate and investment portfolios on behalf of corporate, institutional and individual clients (retail and private banking) through distribution networks such as those of BNP Paribas.

This is a core pillar of the Group’s long-term strategy. Asset management generates stable and recurring income, consumes minor amounts of capital, and offers solid prospects for medium- and long-term growth. It is also part of the Group’s mission to contribute to economic development by encouraging the mobilisation of savings to support projects that are essential for the future of society and that best serve the interests of clients.

Enhancing the Group’s capabilities to better serve its clients and partners

With over 30 years of expertise, approximately €880 billion in assets under management and 2,900 employees in 19 countries, AXA IM will become part of the Group’s Investment & Protection Services (IPS) division, which specialises in investment, savings, protection and real-estate services.

By combining the expertise of AXA Investment Managers, BNP Paribas Asset Management and BNP Paribas Real Estate Investment Management, the Group becomes a major European asset management platform with  over 1,500 billion euros in assets under management: a change of scale for the Group, which is thus positioned among the leading European players in the sector and as the leader in the management of long-term savings for insurance companies and pension funds.

Bringing these recognized capabilities together will allow the Group to provide an enhanced service to its institutional, corporate and individual clients through access to a broad range of traditional and alternative investments solutions, along with a more comprehensive offering in sustainable investment and private assets. The merger will also bolster the Group’s global distribution network and technological innovation capabilities.

With this acquisition, BNP Paribas becomes the European leader in long-term savings management for insurance companies and pension funds and aims to become also:

• the leader for inflows of private assets in Europe
• one of the main providers of ETFs (exchange-traded funds) in Europe.

Renaud Dumora, Deputy Chief Operating Officer of BNP Paribas Group, Head of Investment & Protection Services (IPS), and President of BNP Paribas Cardif.:

We are delighted to welcome the AXA IM teams to the BNP Paribas Group. We are uniting our highly complementary capabilities while sharing the same passion and values of excellence, teamwork, innovation, commitment to sustainability, and care in managing risks. Together, we will establish a European leader in asset management,  able to meet the challenges of a changing world.”

At the heart of the Group’s integrated model

The asset management business line is enhancing its offering to long-term savings companies by acquiring expert capabilities in insurance assets through two significant partnerships:

• as part of the agreement with AXA group, a long-term partnership is formed to manage a large portion of AXA insurance and pension assets;
• as part of a management delegation, BNP Paribas Cardif will leverage the capabilities on this new platform for the management a large part of its insurance assets, notably its general fund.

Beyond IPS, the Group’s Asset Management business line will work closely with other business lines within CIB (Corporate and Institutional Banking) and CPBS (Commercial, Personal Banking & Services), which offer an extensive distribution network and one of the most comprehensive client bases in Europe, serving individual, corporate and institutional clients.

In particular, BNP Paribas stands out in the market thanks to its leading position in Europe of providing financial services to corporate and institutional clients (BNP Paribas CIB), wealth management (BNP Paribas Wealth Management), and investment funds management (asset management).

Preparing the next steps together

In concrete terms, AXA IM is now a full member of the Group, held by BNP Paribas Cardif under the brand name “AXA IM part of BNP Paribas Group”.

A proposed merger of the entities of BNP Paribas Asset Management (BNPP AM), BNP Paribas Real Estate Investment Management (BNPP REIM) and AXA Investment Managers (AXA IM), aimed at bringing together all of BNP Paribas’ asset management activities within a unified platform held by BNP Paribas Cardif, has been submitted to the staff representative bodies.

Moreover, joint working groups with AXA IM teams are already collaborating to build a shared roadmap. This aspect of the project will also be part of a dialogue with the staff representative bodies when the time come.

The BNP Paribas Group’s new asset management governance

Effective on 1 July 2025, Sandro Pierri, Chief Executive Officer of BNP Paribas Asset Management, also becomes Chief Executive Officer of Axa IM, and Marco Morelli, current Executive President of AXA IM, becomes President of BNP Paribas Asset Management and of AXA IM.

They will report to Renaud Dumora, Deputy Chief Operating Officer of BNP Paribas Group, Head of Investment & Protection Services, and President of BNP Paribas Cardif.

Sandro Pierri will head up the BNP Paribas Group’s asset management activities and Marco Morelli will chair these same asset management activities. .

Sandro Pierri, Chief Executive Officer of BNP Paribas Asset Management and AXA Investment Managers: “We are convinced that the combination of BNP Paribas asset management businesses will generate long-term value for our customers, for our teams and for the Group as a whole. We have great confidence in our collective ability to deliver this project, while ensuring continuity for our customers with the highest level of service.”

Marco Morelli, Président of BNP Paribas Asset Management et AXA Investment Managers: “Much more than an addition of forces, it’s the creation of a global player, built on shared values, complementary strengths, and a common ambition for sustainable growth. Together, we are positioning ourselves to serve clients worldwide with lasting impact.”

Source: BNP Paribas