Anyone not swearing off news for the summer will have heard of the acquisition by BNP Paribas Cardif of AXA Investment Managers (AXA IM), which closed on July 1, 2025. The deal, assessed at just under US$6 billion in value, will bring just under $1 trillion of assets under management on board with BNP Paribas. BNP Paribas Asset Management itself had just over $700 billion under management at end March 2025, with just under $28.3 billion under management at BNP Paribas Real Estate Investment Management.
There has been quite a bit of triumphalism around the deal, from both lead parties and others. One rather grandiose graphic doing the rounds in the aftermath of the merger depicts a bull-headed man in a smart suit, riding a bear and holding a banner with the respective company logo in each hand, while a winged Victory figure hovers above.
Industry commentators have remarked on BNP’s “perfect execution” in its rise to leading European status. Others highlight how Société Générale put in the first offer to acquire Paribas in 2000, only for BNP to beat them with a counteroffer. Michel Pébereau, who retired as BNP Paribas chair in 2011, is credited with much of the strategic vision behind this rise. Others, however, query the efficiency of BNP Paribas. “There’s still much to be done in this respect”, said one. “Is consolidation really the way forward?” another asked.
Naturally, the new merged entity is going to be in the ideal position to benefit from the much-cited pivot to Europe under way in the asset management universe. It will bring the kind of scale and capabilities needed to compete with the US asset management giants. It might also benefit from pro-European policies in the European Union as a response to the autarkic stance of the Trump administration.
Regarding implications for the new joint platform in Asia Pacific, BNP Paribas’s media spokesperson commented to AAM, “we have just finalised this acquisition. It is therefore too early to discuss the final outline of the project. Joint working groups with AXA IM teams are already in place to reflect and develop a common roadmap.”
AXA IM’s head of Asia sales, Terence Lam, based in Hong Kong, left the firm in June just before the merger’s target completion date, to be hired by Nomura Asset Management as its head of distribution for Asia ex-Japan. “I am excited to join Nomura Asset Management, a very well-known firm with a strong Asian heritage and clear ambitions across the region”, Lam said of his move. Nomura AM has some $611 billion under management. The same month, Fidelity International, with $900 billion under management, hired Marion Le Morhedec from AXA IM as its global fixed income CIO. She had experience at both BNP Paribas and AXA IM, including as AXA IM’s head of active fixed income for Europe and Asia.
