Why do so many Europeans end up investing via their own bank's funds?

Why do so many Europeans end up investing via their own bank's funds?

Probably because that's what they were advised to do. By the bank itself 😅

If you have ever invested via your bank, you might want to read this. The data is quite clear on the topic.

🇩🇰 At Denmark's five largest banks, 92% of what customers hold in funds is the bank's own product. Nine out of every ten DKK they advise on, ends up in something the bank itself earns from.

🇪🇸 In Spain, the three largest fund managers are CaixaBank Asset Management, Santander Asset Management and BBVA Asset Management. They belong to the three largest banks, and between them they hold half of all the money Spaniards have in investment funds (Inverco, March 2026).

🇫🇷 In France, Europe's biggest asset manager, Amundi, is majority-owned by Crédit Agricole and sold through its branches. BNP Paribas has its own. So does almost everyone else.

🇩🇪 In Germany, if you bank with a Sparkasse you're offered Deka funds, owned by the Sparkassen. If you bank with a Volksbank, you're offered Union Investment, owned by the cooperative banking group. If you bank with Deutsche Bank, you're offered DWS, which Deutsche Bank controls.

🇮🇹 In Italy, Eurizon, one of the country's largest fund managers, is the asset management arm of Intesa Sanpaolo, Italy's biggest bank.

🇪🇺 The pattern is the same everywhere: the person advising you and the company charging you the fee, usually work for the same group.

ESMA, the EU body that supervises investment products across Europe, has measured what that costs you. 𝗥𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝗹𝘆 𝟱𝟬% 𝗼𝗳 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗽𝗮𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗮 𝗳𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗴𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗯𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗹 𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗶𝘁𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳. You might want to read that again.

So two questions to ask yourself:

1. What does this cost me in total, per year, including everything charged inside the fund and anything charged outside it?

2. And why is the bank's own fund the right one for me, rather than a cheaper alternative?

A neutral analysis of your investment funds takes minutes in Senso . Senso has no investment fund products to sell, no kickbacks, no bias. Several users have already identified potential savings in the tens of thousands.

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Full video clip: https://youtu.be/fN4Y2O2v3b4?si=a9RkZrxEWandO-Qq