By Kaeb Mils
Amundi has been doing great lately. And when the Economist published a piece about how well they have been, calling them the European BlackRock, things were already looking really promising. Back then (in April 2021), the market was really optimistic about Valérie Baudson’s promotion to the chief executive position. Media also reacted enthusiastically, and this approach is still visible a few months later.
The Economist’s comparison was a little exaggerated, as in April Amundi was behind BlackRock in terms of assets under management. By the end of 2020, BlackRock had $8.7 trillion worth of AuM, while Amundi ‘only’ had $2 trillion. One could only ponder if Amundi could grow any more.
The company succeeded partially because their efforts focused on their Tech Division that is being run by Guillaume Lesage, their Paris Chief Operating Officer. Their product (touted to be simply more effective and user-friendly than BlackRock’s Aladdin) is believed to be offering an impressive set of services, thus raising the bar for all the competition.
The company’s results for the beginning of 2021
News has recently presented Amundi’s results for the H1 and Q2 of 2021, and they are really impressive. They also show incredible growth and as the newly appointed CEO, Valérie Baudson put it, their company has posted a great operating performance (and financial too) in the Q2 of 2021. This was all driven by a great momentum in every single one of their businesses, especially their MLT lines, which have shown incredible inflows. The market was favorable, and thus the income was even further amplified.
Their most recent endeavors (such as the cooperation with Banco Sabadell, or the partnership with Bank of China) have given fruits really fast. Their next step is the Lyxor acquisition, which is supposed to be their new driver of growth.
This is living proof that their way of thinking is relevant, and the development strategy was well-thought. The group behind the project seems to have everything needed for further profit pursue and maintaining the right trajectory. Amundi also shared many other impressive outcomes. On 30 June 2021, their total AuM reached €1,794 billion, which is a 12.7% increase in twelve months’ time, and a 2.2% increase since March.
Amundi’s great initiatives from 2020
If you have been observing Amundi closely, you should have heard about their impressive plans for 2020. And what is even more impressive than those plans, is the fact that they are already profitable. It took them only a few months to bring major fruits. However, if you have not heard about Amundi’s actions, we’ll quickly introduce them to you:
- Integration and successful partnership with Banco Sabadell;
- Start-up of the new subsidiary (wealth management) in cooperation with the fourth-largest bank in China – Bank of China;
- Heavy investments and impressive innovations of Amundi Technology.
Amundi has been investing responsibly and in accordance with the ESG plan
The company implemented an ESG-based (Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance) plan of action, that they are following. It includes:
- Investing into ESG assets. On 30 June 2021, Amundi had €798 billion of those. This means that in six months (31 December 2020) they grew them from €378 billion. How have they achieved that? They stuck to the ESG criteria. Nothing less, nothing more.
- More than €680 billion worth of AuM possessed by Amundi was classified in the SFDR (European Sustainable Financial Disclosure Regulation), which makes the company the leader in this sector.
The above news should not be surprising for the observers, and the leader’s position should only draw a smile on commentators’ faces across Europe. Amundi’s successes mean that Europe is going places, and the ESG initiatives really do pay off, being both beneficial for the planet, and for the investors as well.
All this, and more interesting insights, could be found in the brilliant piece published by Andy Samu written for Disruption Banking. To access his article, use the following link: https://disruptionbanking.com/2021/07/30/good-results-for-amundi-is-good-news-for-europe/.
