Consolidation firmly takes hold as scale takes centre stage
Asset and wealth managers have entered 2021 after a stressful year dealing with COVID-19’s many shocks and aftereffects. As executives responded to significant market disruptions, an underlying industry theme around building assets under management (AUM) scale through partnerships and M&A activity took a firm hold.
Firms looked to grow AUM quickly by sealing new partnerships and exploring M&A options. We observed a flurry of transactions and restructurings in the sector, with several large transactions announced. Asset and wealth managers accelerated their focus towards defining and moving towards a new target operating model, one where scale ambitions plays a central role.
A&M’s Financial Services team’s latest report analysis how asset and wealth managers have accelerated a drive towards scale, making the year 2020 the beginning of a significant consolidation cycle.
Asia Financial Services M&A 2026: Wealth & Asset Management and Private Equity
March 11, 2026
Read our Wealth & Asset Management and Private Equity M&A extract from our "Keeping up with Momentum - FSIG Financial Services M&A in 2026" report. Discover: Increasing Asian high-net-worth population driving inbound investment; Expected consolidation across the hyper-fragmented asset management and private markets GP landscape.
Asia Banking and Capital Markets M&A 2026: Go big or get left behind
March 4, 2026
Read our Banking and Capital Markets M&A insights from our "Keeping up with Momentum - FSIG Financial Services M&A in 2026" report. Discover why consolidation is needed for scale and technology efficiencies to combat regulatory and economic pressure, and boost global competitiveness.
Asia Insurance M&A 2026: Beyond the core – winning in new markets
February 19, 2026
Read our Insurance extract from our "Keeping up with Momentum - FSIG Financial Services M&A in 2026" Report. Discover why combatting structural pressures and catering to Asia’s wealthy class requires insurers to go beyond existing segments and strengthen both distribution and new product capabilities.
Interoperability as the new competitive differentiator
February 16, 2026
In the second article in our three-part series, we reveal how and why institutions must evolve from traditional environments built to record transactions toward modern, composable ecosystems engineered for intelligence, connectivity, and velocity.
