The Nice-based EDHEC Risk and Asset Management Research Centre, part of the EDHEC Business School, has teamed up with AXA Investment Managers (AXA IM) to create a research chair in ‘regulation and institutional management.
Some may see regulation as a topic that promotes either drooping eyelids or foam at the mouth, but EDHEC says it is a key issue for European institutional investors. This emerged from a study conducted by EDHEC on the impact of the International Financial Reporting Standards and the Solvency II directive on the financial management of European insurance companies in November 2006.
The aim of the chair, according to EDHEC, is “to carry out a joint operation on a European scale to highlight the challenges for institutional investment management of regulatory developments”. The theme for the first year of what will be a three-year programme will be “the influence of the institutional and regulatory framework on the financial management of pension funds in Europe”.
The tie-up with AXA IM deepens EDHEC’s relationship with the French asset manager, which also supported the 2006 study.
BNP Paribas expands Italian FOHF business
BNP Paribas Securities Services is to acquire the third-party depobank business for fund of hedge funds (FOHF) of the Italian bank RasBank, it was announced today. The deal, which is expected to be finalised on 31 October and is subject to regulatory approval, will bring the French bank’s assets under administration in FOHF in Italy to €9.8bn.
BNP Paribas said the acquisition was part of a global drive to build up its alternative fund servicing business, which has been growing in both the onshore and offshore markets. The bank currently administers over 330 FOHF worth €27bn.
The deal will also consolidate BNP Paribas’s position in the Italian market. “The fund of hedge funds industry in Italy is growing rapidly,” said Mauro Dognini, deputy head of BNP Paribas Securities Services in Milan. “The acquisition of RasBank Banca Depositaria business […] was a very attractive opportunity to expand our strong presence in Italy.”
RasBank is a wholly owned subsidiary of RAS Group SpA, which is part of the Allianz Group.
© Fiona Rintoul / Editorial Director / funds europe / 24 September 2007
