Amundi reached record assets under management in its history, to €2.1trn in the first quarter of 2024, helped by its Alpha Associates acquisition and partnership with US manager Victory Capital.
Both of these operations "aim to accelerate the Group’s organic development, which reached new milestones in the first quarter", the Paris-headquartered global asset manager said in the Q1 update today (26 April).
In Asia, assets under management "increased sharply", by +6% in the quarter alone, reaching €422bn, with net inflows of +€6.8bn from Asian JVs (in particular in India and Korea), and also from the other countries where Amundi is located (China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan).
Contrary to the trend in the European fund market, Amundi further said, its "actively-managed solutions showed positive inflows in the first quarter, at +€1.3bn, excluding JVs, thanks to a very good sales momentum in bond strategies".
Passive management recorded strong net inflows in ETFs (+€5.0bn), bringing assets under management to €227bn at the end of March 2024.
Third-party distribution recorded its highest level of activity in two years, with net inflows of +€7.0bn, and assets under management now reaching €345bn, i.e., more than 53% of the retail segment.
Amundi Technology saw its revenues increase by +35.7% year-on-year, with 61 clients at the end of March 2024.
Lastly, in Responsible Investment, Amundi’s subsidiary CPR AM launched the first thematic strategy on biodiversity with major institutional players; this first fund will allow the roll-out in 2024 of new strategies on this theme for retail clients;
Amundi also launched, with IFC, a World Bank subsidiary, a fund for the development of Sustainable Bonds markets in emerging countries: nearly €0.5bn was mobilised with major institutional clients.
"This initiative confirms our position as one of the world’s leaders in blended finance projects on post-project transition issues carried out with supranational agencies, IFC, EIB or AIIB", it said.
Valérie Baudson (pictured), chief executive officer, said: “We had a particularly intense start to the year, both in terms of sales momentum and the development according to our strategic priorities. We were able to combine organic and external growth, in line with our 2025 Strategic Ambitions plan.
"Our net inflows, which reached +€17 billion, are very balanced across the main client segments, expertise and geographies. This shows the good positioning of our range of solutions, which allows us to respond effectively to the needs of our clients. Our assets under management reached their highest level ever, at more than €2,100bn.”
“This activity is also reflected in our profitability: the net income for the first quarter, at €318m, is up +6% year-on-year, driven by the increase of our net management fees and the control of our costs.
"Finally, two external growth operations that are significant for our future development mark the beginning of the year. The acquisition of Alpha Associates is now finalised, three months ahead of schedule. Starting in the second quarter, our clients will therefore benefit from new high-performance solutions in the multi-management of private assets.
"Secondly, the partnership with the US manager Victory Capital will strengthen our presence in the United States and our US asset management expertise. It also brings strong value creation for our clients and our shareholders.
"These initiatives, combined with our sustained organic investments, are promising for our future business and results.”
Amundi hit its highest level of assets under management in the firm’s history in the opening months of 2024, reaching €2.1trn, partly owed to the early completion of its Alpha Associates acquisition and partnership with US manager Victory Capital.
Corporate - News - Results 2024 Q1 - Key Figures
Bullish markets, but the European asset management market is still slow
Since the beginning of 2024, both equity1 and bond2 markets extended their rally of the end of 2023. However, investors remain strongly risk-averse in the asset management market in Europe, which is reflected by an idling of inflows in open-ended funds3. As in the previous quarter, net inflows were mainly driven by treasury products and passive management, while net flows in medium-long term active management remained negative.
The beginning of the year was marked by two important external operations
The acquisition of Alpha Associates by Amundi, announced4 at the publication of the annual results in early February, was finalised on 2 April. Alpha will be integrated starting in the second quarter, with assets under management reaching €9 billion at the end of March 2024. This operation strengthens our expertise and creates a European leader in the field of multi-management of private assets.
A memorandum of understanding4,5 was signed on 15 April with Victory Capital, a US asset manager, to establish a strategic partnership aimed at combining our activities in the United States into Victory Capital, in exchange for a 26.1% economic stake for Amundi in Victory Capital and 15-year reciprocal international distribution agreements.
These operations aim to accelerate the Group’s organic development, which reached new milestones in the first quarter
In Asia, assets under management increased sharply, by +6% in the quarter alone, reaching €422bn, with net inflows of +€6.8bn from Asian JVs (in particular in India and Korea), and also from the other countries where Amundi is located (China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan).
Contrary to the trend in the European fund market, our actively-managed solutions6 showed positive inflows in the first quarter, at +€1.3bn, excluding JVs, thanks to a very good sales momentum in bond strategies
Passive management recorded strong net inflows in ETFs (+€5.0bn), bringing assets under management to €227bn at the end of March 2024.
Third-party Distribution recorded its highest level of activity in two years, with net inflows of +€7.0bn, and assets under management now reaching €345bn, i.e., more than 53% of the Retail segment.
Amundi Technology saw its revenues increase by +35.7% year-on-year, with 61 clients at the end of March 2024.
Lastly, in Responsible Investment, Amundi’s subsidiary CPR AM launched the first thematic strategy on biodiversity with major institutional players; this first fund will allow the roll-out in 2024 of new strategies on this theme for retail clients; Amundi also launched, with IFC, a World Bank subsidiary, a fund for the development of Sustainable Bonds markets in emerging countries: nearly €0.5bn was mobilised with major institutional clients; this initiative confirms our position as one of the world’s leaders in blended finance projects on post-project transition issues carried out with supranational agencies, IFC, EIB or AIIB.
Valérie Baudson, chief executive officer, said: “We had a particularly intense start to the year, both in terms of sales momentum and the development according to our strategic priorities. We were able to combine organic and external growth, in line with our 2025 Strategic Ambitions plan.
"Our net inflows, which reached +€17 billion, are very balanced across the main client segments, expertise and geographies. This shows the good positioning of our range of solutions, which allows us to respond effectively to the needs of our clients. Our assets under management reached their highest level ever, at more than €2,100bn.”
“This activity is also reflected in our profitability: the net income8,9 for the first quarter, at €318m, is up +6% year-on-year, driven by the increase of our net management fees and the control of our costs.
"Finally, two external growth operations that are significant for our future development mark the beginning of the year. The acquisition of Alpha Associates is now finalised, three months ahead of schedule. Starting in the second quarter, our clients will therefore benefit from new high-performance solutions in the multi-management of private assets.
"Secondly, the partnership11 with the US manager Victory Capital will strengthen our presence in the United States and our US asset management expertise. It also brings strong value creation for our clients and our shareholders.
"These initiatives, combined with our sustained organic investments, are promising for our future business and results.”
High and diversified inflows, by main client segments, geographies and types of management
As of 31 March 2024, our assets managed reached their highest level ever, at €2.116 trillion, up +9.4% year-on-year (compared with the end of March 2023) and up +3.9% over the quarter. They are driven by market dynamics, a positive foreign exchange effect, as well as net inflows, which reached +€53.5bn over 12 months to the end of March 2024.
In Q1 2024, Amundi generated high net inflows of +€16.6bn, balanced by main client segments, by expertise and by geography, a sign of the success of our expertise across its whole range of solutions.
By client segments, net inflows reached +€6.5bn for Retail, +€5.6bn for the Institutional segment and + €4.5bn for JVs.
By major asset classes and excluding JVs, treasury products (+€8.7bn) benefit from the attraction of high short-term interest rates. MLT Assets7 (+€3.4bn) also experienced a good level of inflows, balanced by types of management:
Finally, by geography, Europe collected net inflows of +€12.8bn, Asia +€6.8bn and the Americas +€1.0bn.
