Dexia Asset Management, recently bought by New York Life Investments after a lengthy search for a buyer, will now be called Candriam – an acronym that stands for “Conviction and Responsibility in Asset Management”.
In a statement, Dexia Asset Managers explains that the name also “evokes an interesting linguistic association: the root ‘Cand’ suggests light and positive energy”.
“These positive attributes symbolise a fresh start full of dynamism and enthusiasm,” it says.
New York Life Investments paid €380 million for Dexia Asset Management, the same sum Hong Kong-based private equity house GCS Capital agreed to pay in a deal announced in December 2012, which subsequently lapsed when GCS Capital failed to meet its payment schedule.
The sale of the asset management unit was the last major disposal from the Franco-Belgian bank Dexia, which had to be bailed out three times by taxpayers during the financial crisis.
Dexia Asset Managers had €73 billion under management at the end of last year. The statement says the firm expects to see continued interest in its multi-asset, corporate and high yield, biotech, socially responsible investment, quantitative and European equity strategies.
New York Life Investments describes its structure as a multi-boutique in which Candriam will maintain its “distinct entrepreneurial culture”.
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