Carriers
BlackRock survey: insurers want partners across investment, capital and technology
By Insurance Wire Staff, . Insurance Wire.
Most of the world's insurers now want something from their external partners that goes well beyond picking securities. That is the headline finding from Reinsurance News, which covered BlackRock's 15th annual global insurance survey, drawing on responses from 463 insurers across 31 markets whose combined investable assets exceed $24 trillion.
What the survey found
Eighty-two percent of respondents said they rely on external partnerships across at least two business functions, including investments, capital provision, liability design and distribution. That breadth matters: it signals that insurers are treating outside relationships as structural rather than supplementary.
On the investment side, 84% described their approach as hybrid, blending internal teams with outside managers. Nearly half, 49%, expect to lean more heavily on external managers over the next 12 months. For private debt specifically, 74% plan to access it through separate accounts or bespoke mandates rather than pooled funds, which gives them more control over how assets are structured against their liabilities.
Mark Erickson, Global Insurance Strategist in BlackRock's Financial Institutions Group, said: "Insurers are increasingly looking for partners that can do more than manage investments. To achieve their long-term objectives, insurers are looking across investment, capital, and technology holistically to navigate an increasingly complex operating environment."
Private markets: established, but more selective
Private markets, meaning assets such as private credit, infrastructure debt and real estate loans that are not traded on public exchanges, have crossed from alternative to mainstream. More than nine in ten respondents allocate at least 5% of their portfolios there, and more than 40% allocate over 15%.
Demand is still growing: 76% expect to increase private markets allocations over the next 12 months. But the pace is easing from recent highs. The report noted that 94% planned increases in 2025, 91% in 2024 and 89% in 2023. Within private markets, private debt led demand, with 41% of respondents naming it as an area where they plan to increase allocation.
Charles Hatami, Global Head of the Financial and Strategic Investors Group and Co-Head of the Global Partners Office at BlackRock, addressed the shift directly: "The question is not simply how much to allocate, but which assets and structures best support each insurer's income, liquidity and capital objectives."
Macro concerns and risk appetite
Inflation remains the most-cited macroeconomic worry, flagged by 62% of respondents, the same share as in 2025. Globally, 61% expect a soft landing over the coming year.
Overall risk appetite is holding steady, with 82% planning to maintain their current risk profile. Among that group, 57% said there are insufficient opportunities to justify taking on more risk, a figure that is 22 percentage points higher than in 2025. The survey's interpretation is that stability reflects selectivity rather than simple confidence.
For context, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that consumer prices overall were up 3.7% year on year as of September 2026. Persistent inflation at that level is consistent with why insurers continue to rank it as their primary macro concern: it affects both the liabilities they are managing and the real returns on the assets backing them.
What to watch
The shift toward bespoke mandates and multi-function partnerships points to a market where scale and breadth of capability are becoming competitive requirements for asset managers serving insurers. Managers who offer only pooled funds or only investment management may find themselves outside the conversation as insurers consolidate relationships. Whether the moderation in private markets growth reflects genuine saturation or simply a pause for portfolio construction will be clearer when next year's survey results arrive.
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