In a recent interview with The Signal Media, Ignazio Castiglioni, CEO and Co-Founder of HAT SGR, shared his perspective on the key forces reshaping the asset management and private equity landscape in Europe from regulatory reform and the democratization of private markets to the growing role of artificial intelligence in enterprise transformation.
Castiglioni observes that artificial intelligence is already widely adopted across professional services and consulting, yet its impact remains largely superficial. In most cases, AI is being used to enhance individual productivity: drafting documents, preparing presentations, reworking communications, rather than to fundamentally redesign business models and operating structures. In his view, the real transformation has yet to take place.
This shift also carries implications for the workforce. According to Castiglioni, junior roles focused on repetitive tasks are the most exposed to automation in the short term, particularly in Northern Italy’s services sector. However, he warns of a paradox: reducing junior hiring today risks undermining the pipeline of senior professionals tomorrow. The challenge, therefore, is not to eliminate these roles but to evolve the skills they require, with young professionals increasingly expected to integrate AI into their daily work.
On the regulatory front, Castiglioni highlights two significant European developments. The revised AIFMD, commonly referred to as AIFMD II, will strengthen oversight across the industry, with greater involvement from supervisory authorities such as Banca d’Italia and CONSOB. At the same time, the updated ELTIF Regulation is making it easier for private banking and wealth management networks to distribute private market products to retail investors, even at relatively accessible ticket sizes.
This opening of private markets to non-professional investors represents one of the most relevant structural shifts for European asset management. It has the potential to significantly broaden the capital base available to private equity and infrastructure funds, reducing reliance on institutional investors alone. Major players such as Anima Holding, Azimut Holding, and Banca Generali are already moving in this direction through acquisitions and partnerships aimed at gaining greater control over product manufacturing capabilities.
Looking at the structure of the industry itself, Castiglioni notes that rising compliance costs driven by new regulation will accelerate a process of market consolidation that has long been anticipated but only recently gained momentum. He points to several recent transactions as evidence of this trend, including deals involving Xenon Private Equity, DeA Capital Alternative Funds, Merito SGR, and the creation of 21 Next. At the same time, generalist funds are becoming increasingly rare as investors demand deeper sector expertise and more focused strategies.
HAT SGR, a pioneer in this space, having launched in 2010 the first Italian fund entirely dedicated to digitalization, exemplifies this trend toward specialization, combining financial and industrial expertise to support technology-driven companies through their next stage of growth.
