Infrastructure debt has emerged as the clear priority for European insurers within private markets, with 58% planning to increase their allocations, according to survey results published by Novantigo.
Direct lending is also set for significant growth, with 46% of insurers intending to increase their exposure. Private placements follow at 38%.
The report, Insurance Asset Management in Europe 2026. Mapping new mandates, allocation shifts, and leading asset manager brands, mapped 200 segregated mandates and 148 fund investments in the 2026 pipeline. Novantigo’s analysis showed structured products emerging as the standout opportunity, accounting for almost 40% of all new private market mandates and fund investments identified for 2026.
This renewed momentum has been driven largely by the Solvency II review, Novatigo said, which has improved the capital treatment of high-quality simple, transparent and standardised (STS) securitisations and selected CLO exposures. As a result, these investments have become increasingly attractive to European insurers seeking to enhance returns while managing capital efficiently.
The report also revealed notable differences by insurer type and size. Non-life insurers exhibit the strongest appetite for structured credit, with 47% planning to increase allocations, compared with 36% of life insurers. Larger insurers (>€50bn AUM) are also more ambitious, with around two-thirds targeting allocations of 11–15%, whereas smaller insurers (<€10bn AUM) remain more conservative, reflecting the greater operational and reporting challenges associated with these investments.
On average, 48% of insurance private asset allocations are managed by external specialists, the highest reliance on outside expertise of any asset class on the balance sheet. The surveyed European insurers expect to award 385 new mandates and fund investments during 2026, against 524 in 2025. Private markets account for 31% of everything in that pipeline.
Within private markets, structured credit has emerged as the standout opportunity, accounting for approximately 38% of new private-market segregated mandates identified in the 2026 pipeline, 23 of 61.
The wider market is defined by a structural bias towards incumbency. Survey data reveals that 72% of all new mandates and fund investments are expected to be awarded to existing managers, a roughly nine-point increase on last year’s survey. Italy is the most accessible market for new entrants, where almost one-third of mandates, 32%, are expected to result in new manager appointments.
Asked how likely they would be to select each of 29 asset managers as a preferred provider for private assets, insurers placed Blackstone first by a wide margin: 73% would be likely to select the firm, ahead of Apollo at 62%, BlackRock and CVC at 51% each, PIMCO at 45% and J.P. Morgan Asset Management at 43%.
The findings were based on a survey of 143 insurance investment professionals holding €4.1trn in assets, conducted in Q2 2026 across the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Switzerland, alongside 25 executive interviews.
