Insurance Awards 2027: Asia’s top asset class and capabilities winners explained

AsianInvestor has identified the most innovative and outstanding performers serving the regional insurance landscape and is happy to share the reasoning behind our judges' selections for the Asset Class & Capabilities categories of Insurance Awards 2027.  

These winners stood out for their specialised strategies, deep market expertise and ability to deliver tailored solutions that meet insurers' complex regulatory, liquidity and return objectives.

AsianInvestor extends sincere appreciation to all participants in this year's pilot programme and to our judges for their dedication and expert assessments.  

Stay tuned for our upcoming explainers for the winners across the Client Service & Delivery, Insurance Innovation and Service Provider categories.  

FIXED INCOME MANAGER OF THE YEAR WINNER: Janus Henderson 

Janus Henderson Investors won Fixed Income Manager of the Year by embedding liability, solvency and regulatory capital requirements directly into portfolio construction. Its Australian Fixed Interest team manages over A$15 billion for APRA LAGIC-regulated insurers, up from A$9.94 billion the prior year, within an $80 billion-plus global insurance platform. Across 35 institutional customised portfolios, 29 are LAGIC-optimised, six sit under a 6% credit risk charge, and none are capital-agnostic.  

Every pooled strategy beat its excess return target over one and three years to June 2026. Diversified Credit generated 347 basis points annualised excess return over three years against a 200-basis-point target, while Australian Fixed Interest delivered 139 basis points against 60 basis points. Supported by actuarial specialists and its Janus Henderson One platform providing daily LAGIC modelling, the firm cut credit risk charges from 3.97% to 2.26% on a representative A$290 million mandate. 

FIXED INCOME MANAGER OF THE YEAR (Highly commended): BOCHK Asset Management Limited  

BOCHK Asset Management Limited (BOCHKAM) was highly commended for strong growth, innovative structuring and an integrated service model built for insurance balance sheets. Guided by Risk-Based Capital (RBC) and IFRS 9/17 expertise, fixed income AUM for insurers rose 16% to HK$170.1 billion by June 2026, driving a 51% revenue jump. The firm maintained a 100% client retention rate and gained NFRA approval in mainland China as an overseas principal for onshore insurance funds.  

A flagship HK$147 billion portfolio delivered a 4.2% net interest income return, while its mark-to-market shareholder fund beat its benchmark by 1.84% in the first half of 2026. BOCHKAM also pioneered credit bond forwards to pre-hedge new business pipelines and reallocated into Agency MBS and CMOs to capture carry without corporate credit risk. Additionally, arranging the world's first HKD-denominated SPIRE notes eliminated currency risk and optimised solvency ratios, supported by a multi-point-of-contact framework connecting investment, risk and actuarial teams.  

FIXED INCOME MANAGER OF THE YEAR (Highly commended): J.P. Morgan Asset Management  

J.P. Morgan Asset Management (JPMAM) earned high commendation for the scale and tailored capabilities of its Global Insurance Solutions (GIS) platform. As of June 2026, global fixed income assets under supervision exceeded $28 billion across 82 mandates. The 70-strong GIS team, overseeing $365 billion globally, secured a $1 billion investment-grade mandate in Japan and over $1.5 billion in transferred fixed income assets from a life insurer.  

JPMAM demonstrated strong liability-aware construction, restructuring participating and non-participating portfolios for a Chinese life insurer under IFRS 9 and building a sovereign-focused emerging market debt portfolio for a Hong Kong insurer yielding 5.36%. Its flagship Income Fund also protected capital by avoiding China defaults and US regional bank distress. Expansion of its hedged SPIRE Notes to $4.05 billion, alongside its Robust SAA Approach and Spectrum optimisation platform, enabled precise capital management across regional regulatory regimes. 

MULTI-ASSET MANAGER OF THE YEAR WINNER: Schroders 

Schroders won Multi-Asset Manager of the Year by pairing customisable multi-asset expertise with deep insurance specialisation across Asia Pacific. Overseeing $32 billion in regional insurance assets, Schroders grew its Apac insurance multi-asset AUM by 36% to $16.4 billion in the year to June 2026, fuelled by over $300 million in new mandates and 35-plus top-ups.  

Supported by 28 regional specialists, flagship strategies delivered strong risk-adjusted returns. A $4 billion-plus Hong Kong strategy returned 13.9% against its 10.4% benchmark within a strict Risk-Based Capital (RBC) budget, while a Japan vehicle generated 10.1% against a 5.0% target and a Singapore mandate achieved 13.2% versus 4.3%. Embedding RBC into daily allocation, Schroders restructured a $500 million-plus Hong Kong portfolio into dedicated liability sleeves, engineered bespoke RBC2 matching-adjustment and derivative frameworks in Singapore and integrated its SustainEx sustainability model across all Apac mandates.  

MULTI-ASSET MANAGER OF THE YEAR (Highly commended): Partners Group  

Partners Group was highly commended for providing insurers with an integrated private markets platform spanning private equity, infrastructure, real estate, private credit and royalties. Managing $186 billion globally as of June 2026, including over 180 bespoke mandates representing 37% of firmwide assets, the firm enabled insurers to balance growth, contractual income and liquidity within one coordinated framework.  

Through its Relative Value framework and single-line allocation model, insurers accessed direct, secondary and primary investments, reducing cash drag and mitigating the J-curve. Despite market volatility in the first half of 2026, Partners Group deployed $9 billion and realised $9 billion, with 85% of platform NAV performing at or above plan. Strong long-term net IRRs across infrastructure (20.8%), private equity (19.8%), royalties (14.3% model return), real estate (9.3%) and private credit (6.7%, with a 0.08% senior secured loss rate), backed by PG Alpha analytics, reinforced its institutional appeal.  

PRIVATE CREDIT MANAGER OF THE YEAR WINNER: Blackstone 

Blackstone Credit & Insurance (BXCI) established itself as a premier partner for insurers. With the insurance channel serving as a core strategic pillar of Blackstone’s business, BXCI manages more than $290 billion in insurance AUM across over 240 global insurance clients, including more than 40 bespoke separately managed accounts, supported by roughly $547 billion in total credit AUM.  

A key differentiator was BXCI’s insurance-dedicated platform, featuring over 110 professionals focused exclusively on partnering with insurance clients on portfolio construction, risk management and capital considerations. 

BXCI’s proprietary origination engine stood out as another defining strength, leveraging Blackstone’s scale and integrated credit platform to source differentiated private assets. 

In Asia Pacific, BXCI continued to invest in local insurance coverage and origination capabilities, delivering tailored solutions backed by Blackstone’s global platform and localised long-term partnership approach. 

PRIVATE CREDIT MANAGER OF THE YEAR (Highly commended): CVC Capital Partners  

CVC Capital Partners was highly commended for building an insurance-led credit platform that combined scale, specialist origination and balance-sheet-aware implementation.

Following its acquisition of Marathon Asset Management, the firm’s pro forma credit AUM reached $76 billion across private and public credit, supported by 185 investment professionals. This breadth translated into significant sector trust, with the firm raising over $20 billion from insurers since 2021 and serving more than 240 insurance investors across its funds. 

A standout achievement was CVC's ability to evolve beyond fund selection to become a strategic balance-sheet partner. This was underscored by AIG's plans to allocate up to $2 billion to CVC’s separately managed accounts (SMAs) and funds.  

The firm's European Direct Lending platform demonstrated remarkable downside protection, recording a 0.2% annualised default rate and a conservative 34% weighted-average loan-to-value (LTV) at close across Funds III and IV. 

REAL ASSET MANAGER OF THE YEAR WINNER: CVC Capital Partners (CVC DIF)

CVC DIF was named Real Asset Manager of the Year for translating the defensive characteristics of mid-market infrastructure equity into a tailored asset-liability management strategy for insurance balance sheets. 

Managing €27 billion in infrastructure AUM across core/core-plus and value-add strategies, the firm demonstrated significant traction with institutional insurers, who contributed 28% of all infrastructure capital raised over the past five years. During the eligibility period, CVC DIF maintained strong deployment and realisation momentum, executing approximately €3 billion in investments and generating €1.5 billion in realised proceeds. 

Its flagship DIF Infrastructure VIII fund targets a 5%-plus cash yield over a 12-year fund life designed to align with long-dated liabilities. Anchored by a 20-year track record, CVC DIF has delivered a 16% realised gross IRR and a 1.8x total money multiple across 139 realised investments, while maintaining an exceptionally low 1% realised loss ratio.  

REAL ESTATE DEBT MANAGER OF THE YEAR WINNER: Blackstone 

Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies (BREDS) won the Real Estate Debt Manager of the Year award by leveraging global scale, proprietary market intelligence and disciplined loan-level underwriting to deliver resilient yield for Asian insurance balance sheets. 

Overseeing $78 billion in AUM, including $46 billion in dedicated core insurance capital, BREDS demonstrated its role as a key strategic partner, deploying $15 billion for insurance accounts globally over the award period and executing $400 million in new mandates for Asia Pacific insurers. 

A primary differentiator was BREDS’ access to property-level insights derived from Blackstone Real Estate’s $623 billion total enterprise value footprint across more than 13,000 global assets. This platform advantage supported risk-adjusted performance across commercial mortgage loans (CML), CMBS and RMBS. BREDS insurance CMBS portfolios generated a 168-basis-point spread premium over corporate credit and outperformed the Global Aggregate Index by over 150 basis points, while originated CML portfolios maintained a flawless 0% historical realised loss rate. 

EQUITIES MANAGER OF THE YEAR WINNER: Allspring Global Investments 

Allspring Global Investments won Equities Manager of the Year by combining a systematic equity engine with capital-aware solutions built for insurance balance sheets. Managing over $50 billion for 93 insurers globally and $137 billion across equities, Allspring onboarded four new Apac insurance mandates and launched insurance-linked enhanced income and bespoke climate-transition funds in the region.  

Its $15 billion-plus Systematic Core Equity team blends quantitative models with fundamental validation across 150-plus value, quality and momentum factors. Over the year to June 2026, Global Equity Income returned 30.91% (7.24% excess return over MSCI ACWI) with a 4.2% average yield, while Global Equity Enhanced Income delivered a 6% rolling yield, 6.40% excess return and 1.75 Sharpe ratio. Meanwhile, Climate Transition Global Equity generated a 3.1% annualised excess return since inception. Supported by a dedicated insurance team advising on currency, capital charges and P&L volatility, Allspring delivered repeatable, balance-sheet-friendly alpha.  

ETF SOLUTIONS PROVIDER OF THE YEAR WINNER: Lion Global Investors 

Lion Global Investors (LGI) won ETF Solutions Provider of the Year by pairing four decades of insurance heritage with product innovation to deliver liquid, transparent building blocks for insurers. Majority-owned by Great Eastern Holdings and part of OCBC Group, LGI manages S$78.8 billion, including S$2.16 billion across 10 ETFs after 67% ETF AUM growth in 2025 made it the third-largest SGX issuer. 

First-mover launches drove its momentum, beginning with Singapore’s first active bond ETF in September 2025, which raised S$141 million and offered lower volatility than SGX peers through a two-to-three-year investment-grade duration profile. In March 2026, LGI launched Singapore’s first homegrown physical gold ETF, with its underlying fund surpassing S$500 million within three months. Now the only SGX issuer spanning equities, fixed income, REITs and commodities, LGI attracted strong insurer adoption and provided deep secondary liquidity via dedicated market makers.