Life Insurance: Wealth Management Advisors Are Turning Their Attention Back to Bonds and Stocks
Bond funds posted the strongest growth in the second quarter in wealth management advisors’ asset allocations, and equity funds are regaining momentum, according to the Quarterly Report published on July 16 by the Nortia platform. Unit-linked funds accounted for 60.5% of gross inflows into life insurance.
After being shunned in the first quarter, bond funds regained 7 percentage points over three months, reaching 16% of the unit-of-account portfolio. This was the most pronounced shift in the second quarter of 2026 among the asset allocations tracked by Nortia, whose Observatory aggregates the fund inflows and portfolio rebalancing activities of more than 3,200 wealth management advisors, representing 72,000 clients and €12.6 billion in assets under management as of June 30.
A notable trend within this segment is that fixed-income funds now account for only 13.5% of the bond portfolio: the gradual decline in their potential returns is driving advisors toward core portfolio funds, short-term strategies, or exposure to emerging markets.
This trend is taking place in an environment where, despite ongoing geopolitical tensions, monetary easing is creating more room for risky assets. “The markets are learning to live with uncertainty. It remains, but it no longer paralyzes them,” comments Philippe Parguey, CEO of Nortia, who describes asset allocations as “more balanced and sophisticated than they were just two or three years ago.”
Structured products decline; equities return to third-largest asset class
In life insurance, unit-linked products accounted for 60.5% of gross inflows, compared with 39.5% for euro-denominated funds—proportions comparable to those in the first quarter. Within the unit-linked segment, structured products remain the leading asset class, accounting for 26% of premiums, but have declined by about 4 percentage points—their lowest share since the fourth quarter of 2024.
Equity funds gained just over 4 percentage points, to 15.8 percent, and once again became the third-largest asset class in portfolios, with diversification toward emerging-market stocks, small- and mid-cap stocks, and technology funds driven by artificial intelligence. Alternative investments account for 11.5%, while dedicated internal funds under Luxembourg-structured contracts reached 10%—a rise that the Observatory attributes to political uncertainties surrounding the 2027 presidential election. Money market funds continued to decline, falling to 7.4%, while private equity (3%) and real estate (1%) remain marginal. In terms of portfolio rebalancing, 3.73% of assets under management were reallocated during the quarter, with outflows from euro-denominated funds and money market funds; only real estate funds continued to see outflows.
Securities Account: 470 million euros in inflows since January
Inflows into the securities account have reached 470 million euros since the beginning of the year, at a steady quarterly pace. Structured products continue to dominate, accounting for 44% of inflows—a proportion that is declining but supported by an abundance of offerings: 655 different products attracted inflows, a historically high level, with the emergence of underlying assets in the luxury goods, nuclear, and energy transition sectors.
Bond funds account for 15% of inflows, sought after in particular for corporate cash management, while money market funds lost 4 percentage points, falling to 11%. Equity, alternative, and flexible funds together accounted for 14% of inflows, of which 7.5% went to equities alone; one-fifth of these equity volumes flow through ETFs, primarily tracking the MSCI World and the Eurostoxx 50. Finally, 10% of inflows remain in cash accounts, awaiting investment. The five most actively traded stocks in portfolios are Air Liquide, LVMH, Safran, TotalEnergies, and Schneider Electric.
