During a recent interview at J.P. Morgan Asset Management’s headquarters in London, on the sidelines of its annual media summit, Patrick Thomson, CEO for EMEA, described some of the structural shifts that are genuinely changing the long-term investment case for Europe.
One is the “significant fiscal action” related to the EU defence spending expected to reach €400 billion by 2027. Another is linked to policies and regulation. “If you take Germany, with the pension law coming into force on 1 January [2027], you’ll see the impact of that just across the border from Luxembourg in terms of the intent to unlock more retail savings, so moving deposits into savings, and developing that savings,” he says. “All things being equal, that should be positive for investing and saving and risk assets, and more desire to invest domestically.”
Thomson also referred to the regulatory changes, such as the savings and investment union, and reforms in light of the Draghi and Letta reports. For these reasons, “Europe becomes a more attractive place relative to others at a time when people are very concentrated in the U.S.,” he added. “Just on the basis of prudent portfolio management, you want to diversify those risks, so those are few of the factors I think that help make Europe attractive.”
The CEO added that Luxembourg is “an incredibly important hub” for JPMAM: “For us, it’s a real asset to have the knowledge and the confidence of the regulator. That amount of knowledge and expertise is a unique feature for us which helps us design products for the long term.” The Luxembourg team counts around 135 people.
The case for active
JPMAM has been vocal about the growing role of active management. The firm is a market leader in active ETFs (exchange traded funds) and sees it becoming a strong proposition with exciting times ahead. The ETF industry hit new highs in 2025 and is on track to do so in 2026 as well, and the industry is expected to reach at least $35 trillion by 2030, with core equities and fixed income driving the growth. While emphasising that JPMAM wants to offer clients a range of options, Thomson says, “There are certain features that active ETFs have, particularly in fixed income, where they can exploit inefficiencies in the market. It’s very hard to manage passive ETFs in fixed income efficiently, so it’s an asset class that lends itself to active management.”
JPMAM’s performance has been supported by experienced analysts with strong sector expertise, combined with significant investment (around $20 billion annually) in technology. Spectrum, for instance, is its data-driven, proprietary investment platform that leverages AI to provide portfolio insights. It currently covers around 2,500 companies and around $4 trillion assets under management. Another tool is PM Moneyball which similarly uses data science to refine the investment process.
Adding value
Given the consolidation in the market, Thomson says JPMAM’s partners are looking for top-class products that deliver performance consistently, but not only that. “They’re also looking for value-added services, such as market insights,” he says, highlighting the work that the firm’s market strategists carry out and the need to be able to communicate with clients about what’s happening and why it’s important to be diversified. “You can invest in European stocks and bonds that allow diversification, because interest rates are set differently by the ECB than they are by the Fed, so you know immediately you’re getting a diversified set of risks and returns in the portfolio.”
Additionally, a lot of JPMAM’s clients are exploring the use of alternatives in portfolios and innovative investment products, noting that product innovation now drives a significant share of flows in the European funds industry.
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