Bnp Paribas with Axa IM ready for further growth in private banking in Italy
The integration into asset management brings in assets totalling EUR 100 billion and opens up solutions in the private markets and other business areas
The BnpParibas group has just closed the third quarter of 2025 by posting a net profit exceeding EUR 12.2 billion and in line with its growth trajectory for 2026. The third quarter was characterised by the integration of Axa Investment Managers, which is a strategic transformation factor in asset management. With EUR 1,600 billion in assets (BnP Paribas AM including Axa IM), the group is now the third largest asset manager in Europe after Amundi and Ubs.
Leader in long-term asset management with around €850 billion in assets under management, Bnp Paribas is the leader in alternative funds with around €300 billion in assets under management. The group's net banking income stood at €4,927m (+13.0% compared to the first 9 months of 2024), driven by the integration of Axa IM, the good performance of the insurance business (+6.7%), wealth management (+9.1%) and asset management excluding real estate and Ips investments (+2.1%). "For our group, which globally in wealth management has assets of 484 billion, Italy is one of the four domestic markets, i.e. a key country on a par with France and Germany, albeit with distinctive characteristics. Thanks to a growing economy, full of ingenious entrepreneurs and a complete operation in all areas of our business: commercial banking, custodian bank, consumer credit, insurance, real estate, asset and wealth management, investment banking, structured products, advisory and private solutions - underlines Vincent Lecommented, Ceo of Bnp Paribas' Wealth Management worldwide - we are aiming for its growth and we think it can register higher growth rates". "Axa IM is a catalyst for our group's long-term growth ambitions," echoed Virgine Delaunay, deputy CEO Wealth Management, "based on its in-house skills and expertise, the development of new business alliances with insurers and pension funds, the acceleration of cross-selling activities, the extension of our model and the increase in the distribution of alternative investment products, from which Italy will also benefit
With the merger of Axa IM, the perimeter in which the group moves in terms of assets in Italy alone is now 100 billion euro, considering the different areas of activity and mandates. "We were already before a group with expertise in every field (from funds to ETFs, from policies to customised solutions)," adds Luca Bonansena, head of private banking and wealth management in Italy, "but now with Axa IM our offer is enormously expanded. We are among the leaders in the private market. This allows us to study appropriate solutions for our clients, considering that today in Italy we are on the eve of the most important transfer of wealth between generations: around 300 billion by 2033. Furthermore, clients with large assets are concentrated among those over 50 years old and have on average a very conservative portfolio composed of 70% bonds and cash and the remainder of equity instruments. Only 1% of the portfolio is in the private markets, a sector that, if well managed, can help achieve a twofold objective: on the one hand to increase portfolio profitability in the long term, and on the other to support the real economy. It is not an easy step, but one that requires education and high training of consultants and bankers who assist clients".
Through its networks (independent financial advisors and employee bankers), the BnpParibas group now has more than a thousand professionals throughout Italy with over 60 billion in assets, 27 private banking centres, and two wealth management hubs. "We continue to invest and support our professionals in the digital challenge," concludes Bonansea, "and in artificial intelligence where we already have at group level over a thousand use cases.
