Sales of managed savings products down at Mediolanum

(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - Shares in asset management companies are under pressure on the Milan Stock Exchange: they are losing ground Banca Mediolanum, Azimut, Finecobank, Anima Holding and Banca Generali. The latter, meanwhile, is facing market speculation about the company’s future following the transaction announced by Banca Mps.

Investors are cautious about the sector, fearing that high government bond yields could slow down inflows to the major asset managers and weigh on their businesses. However, the August inflow figures released in recent days have been positive. On Monday, for example, Banca Mediolanum announced total net inflows of €678 million, bringing the year-to-date total to €8.46 billion. Inflows into asset management stood at €1.09 billion, bringing the total since the start of 2026 to €6.56 billion. Fineco recorded inflows of €957 million, up 14 per cent on the €842 million recorded in August 2025, confirming the acceleration in the bank’s growth trajectory even in a month characterised by marked seasonality. It also emerged yesterday that Azimut recorded total net inflows of €938 million in August, bringing the year-to-date figure to €10.2 billion. Anima, meanwhile, recorded inflows into managed assets, net of Branch I insurance mandates, amounting to €617 million.

Analysts at Equita recommend a ‘hold’ on Azimut and Anima and a ‘buy’ on Banca Mediolanum and Fineco. Citi has also recommended buying Fineco shares, after raising its earnings per share forecasts for 2026 by 1 per cent, factoring in a higher net interest margin, which incorporates assumptions of higher Euribor rates.

“Our earnings-per-share forecasts for the coming years are rising by around 5–6 per cent, putting us 8–9 per cent above the consensus,” the analysts added, revising their target price to €27.20 from the previous €26.40.