Amundi said it had produced a “sharp improvement” in annual results again, despite an unfavourable environment for asset management.
The firm achieved a 25% increase in accounting net income in 2018, which rose to €855 million.
Net asset management revenues fell slightly (0.7%), but Amundi looks positively on this “almost stable” figure given market conditions, which saw inflows heavily reduce as the year progressed.
Inflows remained high overall, the firm said, at €42 billion – with €36 billion of this channeled into non-money market products.
But most flows were at the beginning of the year (€39.8 billion in the first quarter), falling to €2.6 billon, then €6.1 billion and finally an outflow of €6.5 billion in the final quarter. Amundi described this pattern, with most flows at the start of the year, as “particularly unusual” but consistent with the wider market.
The firm highlighted positive inflows from international retail business, particularly in Asia where the firm has joint ventures, and the €4.3 billion seen in Italy thanks to its partnership with UniCredit, the bank that Amundi bought Pioneer Investments from.
The Pioneer integration is almost complete and is adding €175 million of synergies a year.
Retail contributed most to the inflows – €30.7 billion – compared to institutional, which added €11 billion and includes corporates and sovereigns.
Asset under management ended the year at €1,425 billion – down by about €1 billion on last year, and after a third-quarter peak of €1,475 billion.
Yves Perrier, chief executive, said: “Despite an unfavourable market environment, Amundi’s results increased sharply once again in 2018.”
There were two factors behind this improvement, he said.
“First, business momentum remained strong, despite the market context, and benefited from Amundi’s significant international presence, particularly in Asia.
“Second, the Pioneer integration has been a success, and the acquisition has significantly strengthened Amundi’s business model. The integration was executed quickly and competently, and therefore the total amount of synergies has been increased to €175 million per year.”
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