Eric Adler, CEO for Legal & General’s asset management business, traditionally known for serving institutional clients, is setting his sights on Asia’s burgeoning private wealth market. Speaking to Asian Private Banker during a recent trip to the region, Adler highlighted the firm’s focus on expanding into this growth market.

“We are very happy with our development across the institutional space, but I’m particularly excited about the inroads we’re making across the wealth channels, in particular here,” he told APB. “And there are many countries that I think show a lot of potential for us.”

He noted that private wealth clients now expect the same level of sophistication and due diligence typically expected from institutional investors. “I put them completely in this category of large players who are looking for solutions across multiple channels and regions,” he said.

Instead of trying to time the market, Adler said the firm takes a long-term approach to managing client money. “We’re always thinking about diversification and risk return. It’s very helpful as we’re in a shaky environment. I think on a relative basis, businesses like ours can be more comfortable than others because we are prepared to manage these kinds of uncertain times,” he explained.

L&G’s asset management business has a global AUM of US$1.47 trillion as of June 2025. In Asia, the firm managed around US$200 billion in the same period.

Barbell capabilities

Adler believes the firm’s wide spread of capabilities is its real competitive advantage, and also plays to the tendency that clients are looking to have more business activities with fewer managers.

For one, he pointed to the importance of having “barbell capabilities” with both passive index and private market offerings. The ability to combine some of these strategies is becoming increasingly important to wealth channels as clients try to increase exposure to private markets, according to Adler.

“The fact that we have these two ends of the barbell in-house means for the clients and distribution channels we work with, we can put them together. You will see more and more partnerships trying to do that. We’re going to be very open to partnerships as well, but some other firms’ partnerships will be out of pure necessity, because they’re either on one end or the other,” he said.

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Public vs private credit

Between the two ends of the barbell, Adler said the firm also has an active fixed income business. “We’re just adding adjacent capabilities to things we already know how to do. Performance has overall been really good. And that’s a key component of what clients are looking for,” he said.

The line between the active fixed income, particularly the more structured strategies, and private credit is becoming blurred, according to Adler. This is particularly important for private banks, he said, as an increasing number of clients look to optimise outcomes and liquidity through the right mix of private and public credit.

L&G inked a partnership with Blackstone in July. The duo develop public/private hybrid credit solutions that combine Blackstone’s private credit platform with L&G’s active fixed income capabilities. The firm said back then that this will help accelerate its ambition to expand into the highly attractive global wealth and wholesale channels.

Multi-asset strategies gaining traction

Meanwhile, the firm has a long history of running multi-asset strategies. Adler believes there’s a place for this solution in the wealth channel as clients weigh their exposures to equity, fixed income and alternatives amid unpredictable markets.

“They’re having to switch between those allocations so quickly that you have to have a multi-asset view of it. You can’t just have the individual teams. They can do very well within their area of expertise, but the switching between asset classes is more dynamic than we’ve ever seen because the world is moving so quickly,” he told APB.

“It’s a big place, but I find it to be quite a small place in a good way when it comes to taking all of these different capabilities and bringing them together under one framework. I think all of that is a real strength we have,” Adler said.

Understanding regional nuances

While countries are still dependent on each other, Adler said they are also trying to find their ways towards more self-sufficiency and redraw the map of their historic relationships.

“Volatility is going to be a normal part of doing business. We continue to have to understand the global implications for an interconnected world, but also understand what each country is trying to do, slowly but surely, to bulletproof itself in this new world,” he said.

Private wealth clients want to make sure that those thoughts are being considered by managers, and Adler believes the firm’s integrated model will give it an edge in this regard.

“You have to combine a global outlook and the ability to coordinate globally with the understanding that each region is different, with regional nuances due to their retirement systems and demographic characteristics. That’s what we’re very much focused on,” he told APB.