Statistical Bulletin no. 27/2 - Intermediaries - October 2025
 

Financial intermediation in the first half of 2025

At the end of June 2025, the value of financial instruments held by supervised intermediaries, in the context of investment and asset management services, reached 4,220 billion euros, an increase of 3.7% compared to the figure at the end of 2024. The increase was mainly driven by growth in Italian equity securities (+6.2%), Italian bonds (+3.2%) and UCITs (+3%).

The volumes of activity relating to the provision of investment services grew overall during the first half of 2025 (placement of financial instruments rose by 11.8%, proprietary trading by 24.8%, order execution by 6.8%), except for order reception and transmission, which recorded a slight decline of 3% compared to the first half of 2024. Gross premiums from the placement of insurance products with a predominantly financial content, distributed in Italy by supervised intermediaries, also recorded strong growth (+24.2%), due to the increase in unit-linked policies (+26.1%).

At the end of June 2025, assets under management by supervised intermediaries stood at 1,641 billion euros, up 1.2% on the end of 2024. This growth was mainly driven by individual asset management (+1.4%), which accounts for 65.4% of the total, and Italian open-ended UCITs (+1.7%).

In the first half of 2025, net inflows into Italian open-ended UCITs were positive by approximately 8.6 billion euros, driven by bond funds (+10.6 billion euros) and money market funds (+1.9 billion euros), which largely offset outflows from equity, flexible and speculative funds.

The accounting data of asset management companies at the end of June 2025 show an aggregate net profit of approximately 823 million euros, down 31 million euros compared to the end of June 2024. Net commissions grew by approximately 85 million euros, but this growth was not enough to offset the increase in operating costs (41.1 million euros) and taxes (9.3 million euros) and the decrease in income from participations (30 million euros).

Despite the slight decline in profits, the financial ratios of asset management companies continue to paint a generally solid picture. The Cost-to-Income Ratio, an indicator of operating efficiency, stabilised at around 45%, marking a moderate increase from the lows of 2021. At the same time, the Net Profit Margin, a key profitability parameter, remained at high levels, close to 40%. The inverse correlation between the two indicators confirms that the recent increase in operating costs has contained, but not compromised, the sector's profitability, which remains structurally strong.

Investment companies reported net profits of 54.4 million euros, down by approximately 7 million euros compared to the end of June 2024, due to higher operating costs (19.3 million euros) and lower net commissions (1.6 million euros), which exceeded the increase in net trading income (14.9 million euros).

The operational efficiency and profitability profile of investment companies, as highlighted by the financial statement indices, shows greater variability and is less favourable than that of asset management companies. The Cost-to-Income Ratio has risen again in recent years, settling at around 70%, while the Net Profit Margin has gradually fallen to around 22%. Here too, the opposite dynamic between efficiency and profitability emerges: the increase in operating costs has had a negative impact on margins, highlighting a lower capacity to contain costs compared to the period of greater balance observed before 2020.

The Report was prepared by:
Gaetano N. Finiguerra (supervisor) - CONSOB, Head of Statistics Office, Research Department (g.finiguerra@consob.it)
Emilio Ciccone - CONSOB, Statistics Office, Research Department (e.ciccone@consob.it)
Davide Danzilli - CONSOB, Statistics Office, Research Department (d.danzilli@consob.it)
Simona Di Rocco - CONSOB, Statistics Office, Research Department (s.dirocco@consob.it)
Francesco Scalese - CONSOB, Statistics Office, Research Department (f.scalese@consob.it)

Thanks to Renato Grasso (r.grasso@consob.it), Matteo Modena (m.modena@consob.it), Marco Taverna (m.taverna@consob.it), Angelo Traverso (a.traverso@consob.it) for their collaboration.

Editorial secretary: Andrea Cianciullo

For information and clarifications write to: Ufficio.Statistiche@consob.it

ISSN 2281-3101 [online]