Following its debut in Taiwan in May 2025, the German asset manager AllianzGI is preparing to offer its actively managed Exchange Traded Funds to European investors.
Sign up to our free newsletters
Article created by the editorial staff of ETFWorld.co.uk
Tobias Pross, CEO of AllianzGI
A market which, according to estimates, will reach €165 billion by 2029.
Allianz Global Investors (AllianzGI) announced today, 27 April 2026, its intention to launch its first actively managed Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) for European investors later this year. The launch, scheduled for the second half of 2026, will cover several markets across Europe. With this move, AllianzGI is filling a significant gap in its product range: alongside Union Investment, it had remained one of the last major German asset managers not yet to have an ETF range in Europe.
The precedent: Taiwan as a testing ground
AllianzGI’s European journey in the active ETF sector began some way back, both geographically and strategically. In May 2025, the group launched its first actively managed ETF on the Taiwanese market: the Allianz Taiwan High Dividend Growth Active ETF, an equity fund focused on Taiwan-listed stocks, with a core dividend-oriented strategy and sub-strategies for identifying growth stocks.
The choice of Taiwan was no accident. The island’s ETF market had already surpassed the threshold of NT$6 trillion in assets under management, and the country had become the third Asian market — after Japan and Singapore — to open its segment to actively managed ETFs, following a decision by the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) at the end of 2024. AllianzGI had been present in Taiwan for 35 years, ranking among the leading foreign asset managers in the market.
What appeared to be a regional tactical move turned out to be the starting point for a global project. Even at the time of the Taipei launch, Tobias Pross, CEO of AllianzGI, had told the media that the expansion into active ETFs would not stop at Asia.
Today’s press release: what AllianzGI said
Today’s press release is concise in its facts and precise in its tone. AllianzGI confirms its intention to launch a new investment vehicle in Europe in the second half of 2026, combining active management with the structural characteristics of ETFs: intraday liquidity, exchange trading and position transparency.
Tobias Pross, CEO of AllianzGI, states: ‘The importance of active management has never been more evident. It is not just about identifying tomorrow’s winners, but also about managing risks, controlling volatility and reacting in real time to market fluctuations. As we expand into the active ETF segment in Europe, building on the experience gained in Asia, we will remain more focused than ever on long-term performance, disciplined risk management and bespoke solutions for our clients.”
Alexandra Auer, Head of Distribution EMEA at AllianzGI, adds: “Our entry into the active ETF market fits naturally with our primary objective, which is to meet the diverse needs of our clients. As their needs evolve, we evolve with them. We know that active ETFs are increasingly attractive to a segment of our client base because they offer convenient access to the benefits of active investment, combined with intraday trading on the stock exchange and transparency.”
The market context: a rapidly growing segment
The timing of the launch is no coincidence. The European active ETF market has undergone a phase of expansion in recent years that has altered its specific weight within the asset management industry.
According to Morningstar data, the total assets of European active ETFs had reached €78.4 billion by the end of 2025, almost tripling in size compared to two years earlier. In 2025 alone, net inflows into these products amounted to €22.7 billion, compared to €18.4 billion in 2024. Equity strategies account for around 71% of total assets, followed by bond strategies at 22%.
Despite this trajectory, the share of active ETFs in the overall European ETF landscape remains small: around 2.9% of total assets, compared to 10.2% in the United States, where the market has a longer history. The gap, however, is narrowing. New product launches reached a record 139 in 2025, compared to 50 the previous year. And for the first time, active ETF launches outnumbered passive ETF launches in the early months of 2025.
The projections outlined by AllianzGI in today’s press release paint a picture of an accelerating market: assets under management in European active ETFs are expected to reach €165 billion by 2029, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 25%. This is significantly higher than the 10.2% forecast for the entire European asset management industry over the same period.
A market that remains concentrated: who leads the segment
The European active ETF market is currently highly concentrated. According to Morningstar data as at 31 December 2025, JP Morgan Asset Management controls 47% of the segment’s total assets, largely thanks to its Research Enhanced Index range. It is followed by Fidelity with a 10.4% share and PIMCO with 6.7%. Together, these three managers hold over 64% of the market.
However, 2025 saw the entry of new players: Goldman Sachs, HSBC, Fineco, Nordea and M&G launched their first active ETFs in Europe. These are management firms that, until a few years ago, had avoided this vehicle, historically associated with passive investment and low fees. Today, the rationale has changed: the active ETF is seen as an efficient distribution channel for bringing active management expertise to a wider audience of investors, at lower costs compared to traditional mutual funds.
AllianzGI fits into this picture with a clear positioning: it does not intend to compete with its existing active mutual funds, but to add a complementary vehicle. AllianzGI’s future ETFs are expected to follow a structured quantitative approach, keeping the ETF range distinct from the traditional stock-picking offering that characterises the group’s funds.
AllianzGI: who they are and where they stand today
Allianz Global Investors is the asset management division of the Allianz Group, with over 700 investment professionals spread across more than 20 offices worldwide. The group manages approximately €561 billion in assets under management.
Entering the active ETF market could serve as a means of boosting inflows, including by leveraging the Allianz Group’s distribution network — insurance agents, institutional mandates, unit-linked solutions — as a channel for distributing the new products.
What to expect in the coming months
AllianzGI has not today disclosed either the specific range of upcoming products or the precise European markets where the initial launch will take place. The press release refers generally to ‘several European markets’ in the second half of 2026.
The likely structure — based on what emerged prior to the announcement — is that of UCITS ETFs, i.e. compliant with European regulations on the cross-border distribution of investment funds, with a quantitative approach that avoids direct overlap with the group’s traditional active funds.
Distribution channels will be a key factor: AllianzGI will likely be able to leverage the Allianz Group’s network to incorporate the new ETFs into insurance solutions and institutional portfolios, thereby expanding the pool of investors it can reach compared to traditional asset management channels.
Source : ETFWorld.co.uk
Subscribe to Our Newsletter
