Europe is a vast market for the global asset management industry. Yet a significant share of its wealth does little work in the capital markets.

Samantha Ricciardi, Head of EMEA at Fidelity International, said at a panel marking the European Media Summit on Thursday in London that the addressable European market amounts to around 34 trillion euros. At the same time, she said, around 13 trillion euros are sitting in bank accounts and deposits. For asset managers, the key challenge is therefore to persuade some of that capital to move from saving to investing. 

In her view, the issue will become increasingly important: an ageing population and declining birth rates are putting European pension systems under growing pressure. The traditional idea that state systems can secure a substantial part of retirement provision is therefore reaching its limits.

«The math simply doesn't work anymore», Ricciardi said. People therefore need to take greater responsibility for their financial future.

Germany as a Testing Ground

Fidelity is paying particularly close attention to Germany. Ricciardi points to the new instruments for private retirement provision planned there, which are due to take effect from the beginning of 2027. State support and tax incentives are intended to help channel more private capital into investments.

Fidelity sees this as a significant opportunity. Ricciardi points to an estimated market size of around 35 billion euros a year. Fidelity wants to participate both through major distribution partners and through the German fund platform FFB. 

However, the long-term goal goes beyond individual products: Ricciardi wants to position Fidelity more strongly in Europe as a partner for retirement provision.

13 Trillion Euros in Accounts

The scale of unused capital is considerable. Ricciardi points to around 13 trillion euros held in deposits across Europe. She contrasts this with the additional investment requirement of around 700 to 800 billion euros a year mentioned in the Draghi report, which is needed to strengthen Europe's growth and competitiveness. 

How much of the money sitting in accounts can actually be mobilized, Ricciardi leaves open. What matters more, she said, is making it easier for savers to get started with capital investments.

Financial education alone is not enough. «If you can invest with three clicks, that probably helps a lot more than being an expert on tracking error», she said. Easy access to investments is a key factor in increasing participation in the capital markets. 

Active ETFs Set to Triple

Active ETFs play a central role in Fidelity's growth strategy. According to market figures cited by Ricciardi, assets under management in active ETFs worldwide have risen from around 800 billion to 2 trillion. By 2030, that figure could reach 4 trillion.

In Europe, Fidelity already counts itself among the largest providers in this segment. The company manages around 17 billion in active ETFs, according to Ricciardi, and wants to triple that volume in the coming years. 

Ricciardi sees active ETFs not simply as the next product trend. They combine the structure and transparency of an ETF with the possibilities of active management and could therefore also help bring current savers into capital market investments.

Fixed Income Beats Equities

Demand is not developing at the same pace across all areas of active management. It is particularly strong at the moment in bonds.

According to figures cited by Ricciardi, around 170 billion flowed into actively managed fixed-income strategies in Europe over the course of 12 months. Over three years, the figure was close to 400 billion. By contrast, active equity strategies posted outflows of around 25 billion last year. 

AI Does Not Replace Advice

In Ricciardi's view, artificial intelligence is also likely to change the way investors gather information and prepare investment decisions. Fidelity is already using AI agents in its own investment analysis. At the same time, the company still employs more than 200 analysts. AI is intended in particular to take over manual tasks and enable specialists to cover more companies and focus their time more strongly on value-adding analysis. 

Ricciardi does not, however, expect human advice to be fully replaced. Personal exchange will remain relevant, especially when it comes to far-reaching decisions about one's financial future. She draws a parallel with medicine: patients can inform themselves comprehensively with the help of AI, but before an important decision they often still want to speak with a doctor. 

For Fidelity, this results in a strategy that goes beyond individual funds: the company wants to accompany investors through different phases of life, make the transition from saving to investing easier, and establish itself more strongly in Europe as a provider of retirement solutions.