Amundi boosts private markets offering with 10pc stake in ICG

Amundi has acquired a 9.9 per cent stake in global alternative asset manager ICG to boost its private markets offering.

The European asset manager will become a strategic shareholder “in a manner that is non-dilutive to existing ICG’s shareholders”, and will nominate a non-executive director to ICG’s board, as part of a new long-term strategic and equity partnership between the two companies.

Through the partnership, Amundi and ICG will jointly develop new products specifically targeted at wealth investors, starting with two European evergreen funds in the first half of 2026 – a private equity secondaries fund and a private debt fund.

Another component of the partnership is a 10-year agreement that will see Amundi become the exclusive global distributor in the wealth channel for ICG’s evergreen and other products, while ICG will be Amundi’s exclusive provider for those products to Amundi’s distribution business.

ICG manages nearly $125bn (£95bn) of assets on behalf of institutional clients through strategies across structured capital, private equity secondaries, private debt, credit and real assets.

Amundi has €70bn (£61.7bn) in assets under management in its private markets platform, built around real estate and multi-management activities, which was bolstered by its acquisition of Alpha Associates in 2024.

The partnership will enable the more than 200m individual investors served by Amundi’s global distribution network, which includes retail banks, private banks, asset managers, insurers and digital platforms, to access several of ICG’s private markets strategies via products designed for wealth management and retirement planning.

Amundi serves a network of more than 600 distributors, including the regional banks of Crédit Agricole, LCL, and Indosuez Wealth Management. Through the partnership, Amundi will be able to offer Crédit Agricole Assurances the opportunity to diversify and expand its allocation to private assets, in particular, private debt.

“Our long-term strategic partnership with Amundi is a meaningful step forward in the development of ICG’s strategy to access the wealth channel in a way that is clearly additive and complementary to our strong existing institutional offering,” Benoît Durteste, chief executive and chief investment officer of ICG, said.

He added that the new partnership with Amundi “materially accelerates our ability to access and shape the evolving wealth channels for private markets”.

Separately, Amundi unveiled a new 2025-28 strategic plan with six strategic priorities and financial targets for 2028, one of which is “innovation in solutions” by investing across active, passive and private assets.

The asset manager also committed to accelerating client diversification, with a focus on the retirement and digital segments, and to expanding geographically to capture growth in Asia, Europe and other “high potential” regions.

“This partnership with ICG, a recognised and diversified leader in private markets, represents a remarkable opportunity to offer our distributor clients and the entities and clients of the Crédit Agricole group access to high-performing strategies with proven track records historically reserved for institutional investors,” said Valérie Baudson, chief executive of Amundi.

“It fully aligns with Amundi’s strategic plan priorities, which aim to strengthen our leadership by expanding our offerings in promising segments supported by long-term trends.”