Europe’s largest asset manager Amundi has announced that its ETF business surpassed the €50 billion assets under management threshold in 2019.
Fannie Wurtz, Head of Amundi ETF, Indexing and Smart Beta.
Through a combination of healthy market performance and robust net inflows, the firm grew its ETF AUM from €38.6bn to close the year at €55.0bn, a growth rate of 42.5%.
Amundi is currently the fourth-largest ETF issuer in Europe.
The effect of upwards-trending markets accounted for roughly half of Amundi’s ETF asset growth. The global stock market (as represented by the MSCI ACWI Index) rose 24.0% during 2019, while the global bond market (Bloomberg Barclays Global Aggregate Bond Index) gained 7.1%.
But strong net inflows also contributed significantly towards hitting the €50bn milestone with Amundi’s ETF suite gathering over €8bn in net new assets during 2019, more than double the amount collected the previous year.
Flows were spread across several asset classes which Amundi says attests to the diversification of its ETF line-up. The firm offers over 170 funds across equity (plain vanilla and smart beta) and fixed income exposures.
Demand was, however, particularly strong for Amundi’s suites of ‘core’ and socially responsible ETFs.
Amundi introduced its suite of ultra-low-cost core ETFs – branded ‘Prime’ – in March 2019. Consisting of five equity and five fixed income ETFs, each coming with a total expense ratio (TER) of just 0.05%, the suite attracted over €1bn in AUM during 2019.
The firm’s range of SRI and low carbon ETFs, which now includes seven equity and fixed income funds, gathered over €1.2bn net inflows in 2019. The trend towards sustainable investing looks set to continue with a recent survey by Brown Brothers Harriman finding that nearly three-quarters (74%) of investors globally plan to increase their allocation to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) ETFs in 2020.
Fannie Wurtz, Head of Amundi ETF, Indexing and Smart Beta, commented, “In a highly dynamic market environment, these strong results demonstrate investors’ continued confidence in Amundi ETF and confirm our position as a leading ETF provider. We are committed in the long term to offer wide-ranging, cost-competitive, and innovative ETFs to our clients, be they institutional or distributors.”
Amundi has previously said it wants to double AUM within its broader ETF, Indexing and Smart Beta business line to €200 billion by 2023. To achieve this target, the firm says it will focus on three growth themes: increasing client coverage in Europe and Asia, enhancing product offering and investment solutions, and boosting its retail market presence.