Bigger does not necessarily mean better according to Morningstar’s latest analysts of Europe’s largest fund families.
While BlackRock remains Europe’s largest asset manager with EUR1,842 billion in assets under management – which is greater than the sum of its two nearest rivals Amundi and UBS – the firm does not feature in Morningstar’s top 10 list of those acting in the best interests of investors.
The analyst’s ‘parent ratings’ consider an asset manager’s investment culture, business practice and the philosophies that guide compensation and fees.
Just seven of the European industry’s largest 100 firms earn high parent ratings from Morningstar analysts, with BlackRock’s main passive rival Vanguard stealing top spot.
JPMorgan, Pimco, Dimensional, Capital Group, Wellington Management and MFS take the successive six places.
Thomas De fauw, Senior Analyst, Manager Research at Morningstar, says: “Analysts assign parent ratings to 51 of the 100 largest firms in Europe. Only seven of them earn analysts’ greatest conviction and high parent ratings. Analysts consider a variety of factors in their parent assessments, including a firm’s ability to attract, develop, and retain investment talent; approach to succession planning; risk management; product development; and fee philosophy, among other things.”
That so few asset managers achieved a high rating “highlights how difficult it is for firms to demonstrate strong stewardship, culture and alignment with investors”, De fauw said.
However, BlackRock still managed to amass an additional EUR72.9 billion in European inflows over the year thanks to the persistent preference for passive investing. Morningstar reports that index tracking strategies attracted 75 per cent of net flows into European funds in Q2 2026 and continue to increase market share, although De fauw notes that Europe remains less concentrated than the US.
Meanwhile active managers must continue to “adapt through innovation”, if they are to survive in today’s markets.
De fauw says active asset managers are offering choice by differentiating their offerings from strategies that are easily replicated by indexing.
He notes the continuing launch of active ETFs, as a way to gain market share. Europe’s active ETF market reached EUR108 billion at the end of June 2026, nearly triple the level seen at the end of 2023.
De fauw says: “While active ETFs still represent a relatively small share of the broader European ETF market, investor adoption continues to accelerate, supported by strong inflows and growing product choice as investors view them as lower-cost alternatives to traditional active mutual funds. Holdings transparency and intraday tradability add to their appeal.”
BlackRock/iShares remains the largest fund family in terms of ETF assets, with a sizable lead over the competition. The asset manager’s ETF assets are greater than the bottom 97 firms in the Morningstar report combined.
