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Amundi is “in the market” for more acquisitions, according to its chief executive, as Europe’s largest asset manager reported record net inflows last year that helped lift assets under management to a new high of €2.24tn.
“Amundi is in the market and is a consolidator,” Valérie Baudson told the Financial Times. “We’re looking at so many files . . .[but] you need to wait for the planets to be aligned.”
Amundi was created in 2010 through the merger of the asset management arms of French banks Crédit Agricole and Société Générale. Since then it has grown into Europe’s largest asset manager and one of the industry’s most profitable players, through a strong run of organic growth, a series of savvy acquisitions and discipline on costs.
Last year Amundi struck three small deals to diversify its business and bulk up in fast-growing areas. It signed a strategic partnership with Victory Capital to increase its investment and distribution presence in the US; it bought Zurich-based Alpha Associates, which offers funds of funds in private markets; and it snapped up aixigo, a German technology company.
But two larger targets proved elusive. Amundi held talks last year to buy Axa Investment Managers from its parent insurer but was not able to agree terms, and in August Axa announced a €5bn deal to offload the business to banking group BNP Paribas.
Amundi and its majority shareholder Crédit Agricole had also been in on-off discussions for more than a year with German insurer Allianz over plans to combine its €560bn investment management arm with its larger French rival. But talks were paused in December after the two sides struggled to agree on the structure and governance of a tie-up — although some in the industry expect that talks may resume at a later date.
Through Amundi’s 2016 acquisition of Pioneer Investments from Italy’s UniCredit, it has a 10-year distribution agreement with the Italian bank to continue selling Pioneer’s investment products through UniCredit branches.
This is due to expire in 2027, although a new distribution deal may be negotiated. Analysts at JPMorgan have warned that Amundi may need to offer higher rebates to UniCredit as part of any renegotiation and said that Amundi could experience outflows from the roughly €110bn it estimates is distributed by the Italian bank today.
Baudson declined to comment on specific negotiations. She said that Amundi is “looking at everything that would improve our growth” as long as the acquisition targets meet three criteria: it must make strategic sense for clients, be financially positive for shareholders, and the two sides must be aligned on deal execution.
Pointing to Amundi’s strong performance last year — net income grew 13 per cent to €1.4bn, and net inflows doubled from the previous year to €55bn — she said that Amundi was under no pressure to do a deal. “If it’s today, it’s today, if it’s tomorrow, no problem.”
Whether or not Amundi strikes another deal, “it doesn’t matter. We go on growing very significantly.”
In the latest example of consolidation sweeping across the European asset management industry, last month France’s BPCE combined its investment arm Natixis with Italian insurer Generali.
Baudson said that the dealmaking wave is “completely natural and long-expected”, with the roughly 15-year-old barbell effect continuing to play out.
“Managing a profitable growing asset manager can be very well done in a specialised way under $100mn and can be very well done when you’re at least $1tn because you have scale,” said Baudson. “When you’re in the middle, it’s complicated.”
Amundi’s shares were up just under one per cent on Tuesday morning.
