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3 Investment Management Stocks to Invest in From a Thriving Industry
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The Zacks Investment Management industry has been thriving, propelled by asset growth, digital transformation, evolving investment vehicles, deeper personalization and strategic scale.
Asset managers are adapting faster than ever to investor needs and technological change. While passive investment products offer lower fees to asset managers than active strategies, firms like Ameriprise Financial (AMP - Free Report) , Invesco (IVZ - Free Report) and Affiliated Managers Group (AMG - Free Report) are likely to keep benefiting from growing assets under management (AUM) balances fueled by increased institutional inflows, expansion into alternatives and innovative products. Higher technology-related costs may hurt profits in the near term, but support margins in the long run.
About the Industry
The Zacks Investment Management industry comprises companies that manage securities and funds for clients to meet specified investment goals. The companies earn by charging service fees or commissions. Investment managers, also called asset managers, manage hedge funds, mutual funds, private equity, venture capital and other financial investments for third parties. By appointing an investment manager for one’s assets, investors get more diversification options than if they manage their assets independently. Investment managers invest their clients’ assets in different asset classes, depending on their needs and risk-taking abilities. Hence, the diversification, which investors get by appointing asset managers to manage their assets, helps reduce the impacts of volatility and ensures steady returns over time.
3 Investment Management Industry Trends to Follow
Continued Asset Inflows to Drive AUM Growth: Equity markets globally have performed impressively in the past couple of years, driven by sustained economic growth, resulting in a rise in AUM balances. As interest rates have started to decline (two rate cuts so far in 2025), investors are likely to rotate out of money market mutual funds or short-term investments into other higher-yielding assets. Institutional interest also continues to swell, with pension funds, endowments and insurers significantly ramping up allocations.
Moreover, as investors reassess their risk levels, there has been a rise in asset inflows into alternative investments, such as index funds, private credit funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs). The steady growth of tokenized assets — the tokenization of traditional assets, such as real estate and equities — has also been attracting investor interest. On the whole, decent economic growth will likely keep driving asset inflows, thereby resulting in robust AUM growth in the upcoming period. Although passive investment strategies typically offer lower fees to asset managers compared with actively managed investment funds, asset managers are still expected to generate enough fees as the demand for passive investment vehicles continues to increase. Thus, growth in AUM balances will positively impact investment managers’ performance fees and investment advisory fees, which constitute a major part of their revenues.
Mergers/Partnerships Likely to Help Expand Scale: In order to stay competitive, investment management firms have been engaging in mergers & acquisitions (M&As) and partnerships for a long time now. In a rapidly evolving, tech-driven and fee-compressed industry, consolidations benefit asset managers by driving scale, cutting costs, improving resilience, diversifying products and enhancing distribution.
By joining forces, larger asset managers can spread fixed costs across a bigger AUM base, thus lowering expense ratios and improving profit margins. As passive products and ETFs drive down fees for asset managers, scale is often the only way to stay profitable. Moreover, as M&As allow for diversification across asset classes like equities, fixed income and alternatives, and across client types and geographies, it will help firms reduce reliance on one particular option to generate fees.
Further, combining resources will enable bigger investments in Artificial Intelligence (AI), risk analytics and digital platforms. As such, automation and shared infrastructure will help asset managers reduce costs and improve client experience.
Elevated Expenses to Hurt the Bottom Line: Regulations to enhance transparency have increased compliance costs for investment managers for a long time now. Also, as industry players are constantly trying to upgrade technology to keep up with evolving customer needs, technology-related costs are expected to keep rising. Using AI and machine learning to enhance operational efficiencies may lead to increased expenses in the short term, but will ultimately support investment managers' operating margins in the long run.
Zacks Industry Rank Indicates Bright Prospects
The Zacks Investment Management industry is a 36-stock group within the broader Zacks Finance sector. The industry currently carries a Zacks Industry Rank #58, which places it in the top 24% of 243 Zacks industries.
The group’s Zacks Industry Rank, which is the average of the Zacks Rank of all the member stocks, indicates outperformance in the near term. Our research shows that the top 50% of the Zacks-ranked industries outperform the bottom 50% by a factor of more than two to one.
The industry’s positioning in the top 50% of the Zacks-ranked industries is because of an encouraging earnings outlook for the constituent companies in aggregate. The aggregate earnings estimate revisions show that analysts are gaining confidence in this group’s growth potential. Since April 2025-end, the industry’s earnings estimates for the current year have been revised 1.9% upward.
Before we present a few stocks from the industry that you may want to invest in, let us check out the industry’s recent stock market performance and valuation picture.
Industry vs. Broader Sector
In the past two years, the Zacks Investment Management industry has underperformed the S&P 500 Index and its sector. Stocks in the industry have collectively gained 33.9%, while the S&P 500 composite has rallied 52% and the Zacks Finance Sector has appreciated 44.4%.
Two-Year Price Performance
Industry's Current Valuation
One might get a good sense of the industry’s relative valuation by looking at its price-to-tangible book ratio (P/TB), which is commonly used for valuing investment management companies because of large variations in their earnings from one quarter to the next.
The industry currently has a trailing 12-month P/TB of 3.35X. This compares with the highest level of 7.49X, the lowest level of 2.77X and the median of 4.50X over the past five years. The industry is trading at a significant discount compared with the market at large, as the trailing 12-month P/TB for the S&P 500 composite is 12.55X, which the chart below shows.
Price-to-Tangible Book Ratio (TTM)
As finance stocks typically have a low P/TB ratio, comparing investment managers with the S&P 500 may not make sense to many investors. However, the comparison of the group’s P/TB ratio with that of its broader sector seems more meaningful.
When we compare the group’s P/TB ratio with the broader Finance sector, it seems the group is trading at a decent discount. The Zacks Finance sector’s trailing 12-month P/TB of 5.62X for the same period is above the Zacks Investment Management industry’s ratio, which the chart below shows.
Price-to-Tangible Book Ratio (TTM)
3 Investment Management Stocks to Invest In
Ameriprise: Headquartered in Minneapolis, AMP provides financial planning and related services through its Advice & Wealth Management segment, Asset Management segment and Retirement & Protection Solutions segment. As of Sept. 30, 2025, the company’s total assets under management, administration and advisement were $1.66 trillion.
Over the last five years (ending 2024), the company’s net revenues (GAAP basis) saw a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.9%, with the uptrend continuing in the first nine months of 2025. The rise has been supported by AMP’s constant efforts to modify its product and service-offering capability, along with growth in its AUM/AUA balances. The company’s AUM/AUA recorded a CAGR of 9.3% over the five years ended 2024. Supported by its efforts to launch products, growth in the top line is expected to continue in the near term.
In order to remain profitable, Ameriprise has been restructuring its business. In 2021, the company acquired BMO Financial Group’s EMEA asset management operations, which bolstered its wealth and asset management businesses and supported its global diversification efforts. The company’s federal savings bank – Ameriprise Bank – offers a range of banking and credit products to its wealth management clients. Besides, in 2019, Ameriprise divested the Ameriprise Auto & Home business. Driven by these initiatives, the company has been able to focus on core competencies and improve its market share.
Since Ameriprise’s operations are majorly dependent on the performance of the equity markets and client activities, it benefited significantly during 2020 and the first couple of months of 2021 because of the coronavirus outbreak-induced market volatility. While markets began to normalize post-second-quarter 2021, volatility increased again from 2022 due to several geopolitical and macroeconomic concerns. Although volatility is likely to persist for some time in the near term, aiding the company’s top-line growth, any significant change in client activity toward the negative side might hurt Ameriprise’s financials.
In the past three months, AMP shares have lost 9.4%. Over the past 30 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the company’s 2025 and 2026 earnings has been revised 1% and marginally upward to $38.40 and $41.33, respectively. The company currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Price and Consensus: AMP
Invesco: Headquartered in Atlanta, Invesco operates as an independent investment manager and offers a wide range of investment products and services. As of Sept. 30, 2025, it had offices in more than 20 countries and AUM worth $2.1 trillion. While the company’s total AUM balance declined in 2022, the metric witnessed a CAGR of 8.5% in the last five years (ending 2024). The uptrend continued in the first nine months of 2025. The acquisition of OppenheimerFunds in 2019 resulted in a substantial rise in the company's AUM, making it one of the leading global asset managers.
In April 2025, IVZ collaborated with MassMutual’s subsidiary, Barings, to boost private credit offerings. Also, the company is seeking shareholder approval to convert the Invesco QQQ Trust from a unit investment trust to an open-end ETF, enabling it to earn revenues and profits instead of just recouping marketing costs.
Invesco has been undertaking initiatives to improve operating efficiency. The company exceeded its target of realizing net cost synergies from the OppenheimerFunds acquisition and achieved $200 million in annualized net savings well ahead of schedule. In August 2025, it announced a deal to sell Intelliflo, which it had acquired in 2018, to Carlyle Group to boost efficiency. While adjusted operating expenses increased in 2023 and in the first nine months of 2025, the metric declined 2.2% in 2024.
Apart from a strong presence in the United States, Invesco maintains a solid foothold in Europe, Canada and the Asia-Pacific. As of Sept. 30, 2025, the company’s client AUM outside the United States constituted 31% of total AUM. The acquisition of Europe-based Source, a leading, independent specialist provider of ETFs, will drive Invesco’s global presence. Also, the sale of the majority stake in the India business to establish a joint venture will strengthen Asia presence while allowing capital allocation to more profitable projects.
In the past three months, shares of IVZ have gained 12%. In the past 30 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the company’s 2025 and 2026 earnings has moved 6% and 3.3% upward to $1.94 and $2.50, respectively. Currently, Invesco sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Price and Consensus: IVZ
Affiliated Managers: Headquartered in Massachusetts, Affiliated Managers is a global asset manager with investments in high-quality, independent partner-owned firms or affiliates. As of Sept. 30, 2025, it had total AUM of $803.6 billion.
The company’s revenue growth has been challenging. Its consolidated revenues declined in the last three years due to lower asset-based fees and performance fees. The trend reversed in the first nine months of 2025 as revenues increased marginally on a year-over-year basis. The uncertainty of the performance of the capital markets is expected to keep weighing on the top line in the near term. Though the company’s efforts to evolve its revenue mix look impressive, a significant improvement in the top-line performance is less likely to occur anytime soon.
Since 2021, Affiliated Managers has been pivoting toward private markets and liquid alternatives, fueling strong client inflows into these segments and offsetting weakness in traditional asset categories. Aligning with the strategy, this year, the company announced four new partnerships – NorthBridge Partners, Verition Fund Management, Qualitas Energy and Montefiore Investment. Also, Affiliated Managers entered into a strategic partnership with Brown Brothers Harriman to expand the reach of BBH’s structured and alternative credit strategies into the U.S. wealth marketplace.
In the last two years, AMG acquired a minority stake in Suma Capital, Ara Partners and Forbion Group Holding B.V. Over time, earnings contributions from alternatives will keep rising as the company pivots the business mix toward secular growth areas with strong investor preference, positioning it to better counter volatility.
AMG shares have gained 17.9% in the past three months. Over the past 30 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its 2025 and 2026 earnings has been revised 2.2% and 4.2% upward to $25.13 and $29.73, respectively. The company currently sports a Zacks Rank of 1.
Price and Consensus: AMG
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3 Investment Management Stocks to Invest in From a Thriving Industry
The Zacks Investment Management industry has been thriving, propelled by asset growth, digital transformation, evolving investment vehicles, deeper personalization and strategic scale.
Asset managers are adapting faster than ever to investor needs and technological change. While passive investment products offer lower fees to asset managers than active strategies, firms like Ameriprise Financial (AMP - Free Report) , Invesco (IVZ - Free Report) and Affiliated Managers Group (AMG - Free Report) are likely to keep benefiting from growing assets under management (AUM) balances fueled by increased institutional inflows, expansion into alternatives and innovative products. Higher technology-related costs may hurt profits in the near term, but support margins in the long run.
About the Industry
The Zacks Investment Management industry comprises companies that manage securities and funds for clients to meet specified investment goals. The companies earn by charging service fees or commissions. Investment managers, also called asset managers, manage hedge funds, mutual funds, private equity, venture capital and other financial investments for third parties. By appointing an investment manager for one’s assets, investors get more diversification options than if they manage their assets independently. Investment managers invest their clients’ assets in different asset classes, depending on their needs and risk-taking abilities. Hence, the diversification, which investors get by appointing asset managers to manage their assets, helps reduce the impacts of volatility and ensures steady returns over time.
3 Investment Management Industry Trends to Follow
Continued Asset Inflows to Drive AUM Growth: Equity markets globally have performed impressively in the past couple of years, driven by sustained economic growth, resulting in a rise in AUM balances. As interest rates have started to decline (two rate cuts so far in 2025), investors are likely to rotate out of money market mutual funds or short-term investments into other higher-yielding assets. Institutional interest also continues to swell, with pension funds, endowments and insurers significantly ramping up allocations.
Moreover, as investors reassess their risk levels, there has been a rise in asset inflows into alternative investments, such as index funds, private credit funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs). The steady growth of tokenized assets — the tokenization of traditional assets, such as real estate and equities — has also been attracting investor interest. On the whole, decent economic growth will likely keep driving asset inflows, thereby resulting in robust AUM growth in the upcoming period. Although passive investment strategies typically offer lower fees to asset managers compared with actively managed investment funds, asset managers are still expected to generate enough fees as the demand for passive investment vehicles continues to increase. Thus, growth in AUM balances will positively impact investment managers’ performance fees and investment advisory fees, which constitute a major part of their revenues.
Mergers/Partnerships Likely to Help Expand Scale: In order to stay competitive, investment management firms have been engaging in mergers & acquisitions (M&As) and partnerships for a long time now. In a rapidly evolving, tech-driven and fee-compressed industry, consolidations benefit asset managers by driving scale, cutting costs, improving resilience, diversifying products and enhancing distribution.
By joining forces, larger asset managers can spread fixed costs across a bigger AUM base, thus lowering expense ratios and improving profit margins. As passive products and ETFs drive down fees for asset managers, scale is often the only way to stay profitable. Moreover, as M&As allow for diversification across asset classes like equities, fixed income and alternatives, and across client types and geographies, it will help firms reduce reliance on one particular option to generate fees.
Further, combining resources will enable bigger investments in Artificial Intelligence (AI), risk analytics and digital platforms. As such, automation and shared infrastructure will help asset managers reduce costs and improve client experience.
Elevated Expenses to Hurt the Bottom Line: Regulations to enhance transparency have increased compliance costs for investment managers for a long time now. Also, as industry players are constantly trying to upgrade technology to keep up with evolving customer needs, technology-related costs are expected to keep rising. Using AI and machine learning to enhance operational efficiencies may lead to increased expenses in the short term, but will ultimately support investment managers' operating margins in the long run.
Zacks Industry Rank Indicates Bright Prospects
The Zacks Investment Management industry is a 36-stock group within the broader Zacks Finance sector. The industry currently carries a Zacks Industry Rank #58, which places it in the top 24% of 243 Zacks industries.
The group’s Zacks Industry Rank, which is the average of the Zacks Rank of all the member stocks, indicates outperformance in the near term. Our research shows that the top 50% of the Zacks-ranked industries outperform the bottom 50% by a factor of more than two to one.
The industry’s positioning in the top 50% of the Zacks-ranked industries is because of an encouraging earnings outlook for the constituent companies in aggregate. The aggregate earnings estimate revisions show that analysts are gaining confidence in this group’s growth potential. Since April 2025-end, the industry’s earnings estimates for the current year have been revised 1.9% upward.
Before we present a few stocks from the industry that you may want to invest in, let us check out the industry’s recent stock market performance and valuation picture.
Industry vs. Broader Sector
In the past two years, the Zacks Investment Management industry has underperformed the S&P 500 Index and its sector. Stocks in the industry have collectively gained 33.9%, while the S&P 500 composite has rallied 52% and the Zacks Finance Sector has appreciated 44.4%.
Two-Year Price Performance
Industry's Current Valuation
One might get a good sense of the industry’s relative valuation by looking at its price-to-tangible book ratio (P/TB), which is commonly used for valuing investment management companies because of large variations in their earnings from one quarter to the next.
The industry currently has a trailing 12-month P/TB of 3.35X. This compares with the highest level of 7.49X, the lowest level of 2.77X and the median of 4.50X over the past five years. The industry is trading at a significant discount compared with the market at large, as the trailing 12-month P/TB for the S&P 500 composite is 12.55X, which the chart below shows.
Price-to-Tangible Book Ratio (TTM)
As finance stocks typically have a low P/TB ratio, comparing investment managers with the S&P 500 may not make sense to many investors. However, the comparison of the group’s P/TB ratio with that of its broader sector seems more meaningful.
When we compare the group’s P/TB ratio with the broader Finance sector, it seems the group is trading at a decent discount. The Zacks Finance sector’s trailing 12-month P/TB of 5.62X for the same period is above the Zacks Investment Management industry’s ratio, which the chart below shows.
Price-to-Tangible Book Ratio (TTM)
3 Investment Management Stocks to Invest In
Ameriprise: Headquartered in Minneapolis, AMP provides financial planning and related services through its Advice & Wealth Management segment, Asset Management segment and Retirement & Protection Solutions segment. As of Sept. 30, 2025, the company’s total assets under management, administration and advisement were $1.66 trillion.
Over the last five years (ending 2024), the company’s net revenues (GAAP basis) saw a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.9%, with the uptrend continuing in the first nine months of 2025. The rise has been supported by AMP’s constant efforts to modify its product and service-offering capability, along with growth in its AUM/AUA balances. The company’s AUM/AUA recorded a CAGR of 9.3% over the five years ended 2024. Supported by its efforts to launch products, growth in the top line is expected to continue in the near term.
In order to remain profitable, Ameriprise has been restructuring its business. In 2021, the company acquired BMO Financial Group’s EMEA asset management operations, which bolstered its wealth and asset management businesses and supported its global diversification efforts. The company’s federal savings bank – Ameriprise Bank – offers a range of banking and credit products to its wealth management clients. Besides, in 2019, Ameriprise divested the Ameriprise Auto & Home business. Driven by these initiatives, the company has been able to focus on core competencies and improve its market share.
Since Ameriprise’s operations are majorly dependent on the performance of the equity markets and client activities, it benefited significantly during 2020 and the first couple of months of 2021 because of the coronavirus outbreak-induced market volatility. While markets began to normalize post-second-quarter 2021, volatility increased again from 2022 due to several geopolitical and macroeconomic concerns. Although volatility is likely to persist for some time in the near term, aiding the company’s top-line growth, any significant change in client activity toward the negative side might hurt Ameriprise’s financials.
In the past three months, AMP shares have lost 9.4%. Over the past 30 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the company’s 2025 and 2026 earnings has been revised 1% and marginally upward to $38.40 and $41.33, respectively. The company currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Price and Consensus: AMP
Invesco: Headquartered in Atlanta, Invesco operates as an independent investment manager and offers a wide range of investment products and services. As of Sept. 30, 2025, it had offices in more than 20 countries and AUM worth $2.1 trillion. While the company’s total AUM balance declined in 2022, the metric witnessed a CAGR of 8.5% in the last five years (ending 2024). The uptrend continued in the first nine months of 2025. The acquisition of OppenheimerFunds in 2019 resulted in a substantial rise in the company's AUM, making it one of the leading global asset managers.
In April 2025, IVZ collaborated with MassMutual’s subsidiary, Barings, to boost private credit offerings. Also, the company is seeking shareholder approval to convert the Invesco QQQ Trust from a unit investment trust to an open-end ETF, enabling it to earn revenues and profits instead of just recouping marketing costs.
Invesco has been undertaking initiatives to improve operating efficiency. The company exceeded its target of realizing net cost synergies from the OppenheimerFunds acquisition and achieved $200 million in annualized net savings well ahead of schedule. In August 2025, it announced a deal to sell Intelliflo, which it had acquired in 2018, to Carlyle Group to boost efficiency. While adjusted operating expenses increased in 2023 and in the first nine months of 2025, the metric declined 2.2% in 2024.
Apart from a strong presence in the United States, Invesco maintains a solid foothold in Europe, Canada and the Asia-Pacific. As of Sept. 30, 2025, the company’s client AUM outside the United States constituted 31% of total AUM. The acquisition of Europe-based Source, a leading, independent specialist provider of ETFs, will drive Invesco’s global presence. Also, the sale of the majority stake in the India business to establish a joint venture will strengthen Asia presence while allowing capital allocation to more profitable projects.
In the past three months, shares of IVZ have gained 12%. In the past 30 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the company’s 2025 and 2026 earnings has moved 6% and 3.3% upward to $1.94 and $2.50, respectively. Currently, Invesco sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Price and Consensus: IVZ
Affiliated Managers: Headquartered in Massachusetts, Affiliated Managers is a global asset manager with investments in high-quality, independent partner-owned firms or affiliates. As of Sept. 30, 2025, it had total AUM of $803.6 billion.
The company’s revenue growth has been challenging. Its consolidated revenues declined in the last three years due to lower asset-based fees and performance fees. The trend reversed in the first nine months of 2025 as revenues increased marginally on a year-over-year basis. The uncertainty of the performance of the capital markets is expected to keep weighing on the top line in the near term. Though the company’s efforts to evolve its revenue mix look impressive, a significant improvement in the top-line performance is less likely to occur anytime soon.
Since 2021, Affiliated Managers has been pivoting toward private markets and liquid alternatives, fueling strong client inflows into these segments and offsetting weakness in traditional asset categories. Aligning with the strategy, this year, the company announced four new partnerships – NorthBridge Partners, Verition Fund Management, Qualitas Energy and Montefiore Investment. Also, Affiliated Managers entered into a strategic partnership with Brown Brothers Harriman to expand the reach of BBH’s structured and alternative credit strategies into the U.S. wealth marketplace.
In the last two years, AMG acquired a minority stake in Suma Capital, Ara Partners and Forbion Group Holding B.V. Over time, earnings contributions from alternatives will keep rising as the company pivots the business mix toward secular growth areas with strong investor preference, positioning it to better counter volatility.
AMG shares have gained 17.9% in the past three months. Over the past 30 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its 2025 and 2026 earnings has been revised 2.2% and 4.2% upward to $25.13 and $29.73, respectively. The company currently sports a Zacks Rank of 1.