Amundi and Macquarie expand investment management relationship

Macquarie Investment Management (MIM) today announced that Amundi, through Amundi Alternative Investments' Managed Account Platform, has awarded an $A105 million mandate to MIM's Fixed Income and Currency team to trade G10¹ currencies actively.

For the past 20 years, Amundi, the second largest asset manager in Europe, has been a market leader in Hedge Fund investments for the benefit of its external clients and for its proprietary funds. Its sustained investment in staff and systems throughout this period is a demonstration of its commitment to this business and the resilience and innovation required to manage alternative assets through bull and bear market conditions. Its wholly-owned subsidiary, Amundi Alternative Investments, manages nearly $A10 billion, including $A2.2 billion on its Managed Account Platform, with 100 employees worldwide (Paris, New York, London, Tokyo)¹. Amundi Alternative Investments designs and structures European and regulated Multi-Manager Products and Solutions within a "AIFM-ready" framework in Ireland.

MIM has been managing fixed interest and currency portfolios for over 40 years and has a team of over 100 investment professionals located in Sydney, Philadelphia and London. With over $A150 billion in fixed income and currency assets under management, MIM provides, on a global scale, a wide range of investment solutions from true index product offerings to absolute return strategies.

Brett Lewthwaite, Head of MIM Fixed Income and Currency, said: "We are delighted that Amundi, one of Europe's largest and most reputable asset managers, has chosen to expand its relationship with us. Fixed Income and Currency is a great strength for MIM, with investment strategies that have not only been resilient through the recent market downturns but also added value to our clients' portfolios. Given Amundi's deep and thorough due diligence processes, this expanding relationship is an endorsement of the strength of our team."

Laurent Guillet, Chief Executive Officer for Amundi AI / Franck Dargent, Deputy Chief Executive Officer for Amundi AI, said: "As we continue to build a focus list of high quality absolute return solutions, we are thrilled to add MIM's Short Term Currency Alpha (STCA) strategy to our line-up of core investments. With this discretionary active currency G10 product, MIM's Fixed Income and Currency division has shown again a demonstrable ability for delivering outstanding risk adjusted returns to its clients. MIM's commitment to give us privileged access to its STCA strategy is a testament of Amundi’s reputation as a stable and valued investment partner."

Editor's Notes

Amundi ranks second in Europe and ninth worldwide² among the players in asset management with €688.7 billion under management³. Located at the heart of the main investment regions in some 30 countries, Amundi offers a comprehensive range of products covering all asset classes and major currencies. Amundi has developed savings solutions to meet the needs of more than 100 million retail customers worldwide and designs innovative, high-performing products for institutional clients which are tailored specifically to their requirements and risk profile. Benefiting from the support of two powerful banking groups, Crédit Agricole and Société Générale, Amundi aims to establish itself as a leading European asset management, recognised for:

• the quality of its products, their financial performance and transparency
• its close relations with customers, partner networks and institutions
• the efficiency of its organisation, resulting from the individual and collective talents of its teams
• a commitment to integrate sustainability and socially responsible criteria into its investment policies, going beyond financial criteria alone.

Amundi Alternative Investments has 20 years of experience in selecting the highest caliber hedge fund managers, investing and portfolio construction. Today, Amundi AI has a core list of +170 funds in the 10 most representative strategies, including a managed accounts platform (set-up in 2001)¹. From customized Hedge Fund Solutions for our Institutional clientele (Mandates, Advisory, Dedicated Funds) to Open-Ended FoFs, or Direct Investments on our platform, we offer solutions for various risk, return, liquidity, transparency and decorrelation requirements.

1. G10 currencies are from the following countries or region: US, Canada, UK, Euro region, Suisse, Sweden, Norway, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.
2. Total net assets. Source IPE «Top 400 asset managers active in the European marketplace» published in June 2011, data as at December 2010
3. Amundi Group figures as at 31 March 2012