Amundi has reported that total assets invested in its line-up of ETFs grew to €38 billion in 2017, with record net inflows of over €10bn representing organic growth of 50%.
Fannie Wurtz, managing director at Amundi ETF, Indexing & Smart beta.
The Paris-headquartered ETF provider said that the increase in AUM, which represents a doubling of net new assets compared to 2016, was driven by significant inflows into several core product areas: floating rate notes, multi-factor and emerging markets.
Within fixed income, the firm’s suite of floating-rate-note ETFs brought in close to €3bn during the year, reflecting investors’ desire to protect their portfolios from the effects of interest rate rises by the Federal Reserve.
The Amundi ETF Floating Rate USD Corporate UCITS ETF was one of the best performing funds in Europe, in terms of inflows, and now has more than $5bn in assets under management. It has a total expense ratio (TER) of 0.18%.
Over the course of the year, the Amundi launched nine new fixed income ETFs, ranging from broad (global aggregate, global govies) to more granular exposures.
On the smart beta front, Amundi gained more than 30% of total European inflows into multi-factor ETFs. Its range of multi-factor equity ETF, built in partnership with index provider ERI Scientific Beta, include European, US and global exposures, and draw upon multiple factor exposures and alternative weighting schemes in a bid to provide superior performance compared to conventional market cap-weighted offerings.
The largest of these funds is the Amundi ETF Global Equity Multi Smart Allocation Scientific Beta UCITS ETF, with well in excess of €500m in AUM.
In EM – an area where Amundi is traditionally strong – it captured more than one-third of total European inflows into ETFs tracking EM equities. Overall, the Amundi EM range of ETFs gathered €7.8bn during 2017 with the Amundi MSCI Emerging Markets UCITS ETF attracting close to €5bn by itself. This fund offers one of the cheapest means of accessing the well-known MSCI Emerging Markets Index, at a cost of just 0.20% per annum.
Fannie Wurtz, managing director at Amundi ETF, Indexing & Smart Beta, commented, “2017 has been a record year for Amundi ETF, powered by our ability to deliver solutions for both retail and institutional client segments, which are growing significantly. Amundi ETF offers one of the most consistent and cost-competitive ranges of products, which are fast becoming essential asset allocation tools for investors of all stripes.”
Amundi has stated that one of its key goals for 2018 is to strengthen its position as a core strategic partner for investors in Europe and Asia. To achieve this, the firm says it plans to drive product innovation, particularly in the fixed income space, in order to help investors face upcoming market challenges such as high valuations in the US, potential rate hikes, and reorientation of central banks’ quantitative easing policies.
It will also seek to accelerate retail market participation. Amundi ETF will continue to develop ETF-based solutions for distribution networks and platforms, leveraging the group’s relationships with distributors and its ability to accompany its partners in the development of dedicated tools.
Wurtz said, “As investors grapple with a number of challenges in 2018, there has never been a greater need to respond to the specific requirements of clients, which we continuously address with product innovation and the development of competitive ETF-based solutions, leveraging our proximity with clients on the ground in Europe and Asia.”