Amundi is maintaining its long positions on government bonds in the fixed income market to continue offsetting the exchange rate effect brought by the corporate bonds markets to divergences and opportunities between zones, countries, segments, sectors and issuers.

The group also expects the upsurge in volatility to create the conditions for a rebound in rates for a limited amount of time, although the interest rates and bond yields increases should not last. Taking into account the current and future monetary policies and the present deflationary pressures, the group also started building long positions on emerging market debt - particularly debt in hard currency.

In the equity markets, the group will also continue with its general direction on exposure to domestic demand, highlighting decoupling or at least maturity differences between the United States, Japan and the euro zone; capitalising on the low interest rate environment, which favours dividends and share buybacks in particular; and focusing on opportunities that are either overlooked or undervalued.

Such expertise has made Amundi the partner of choice for more than 1,000 institutional and corporate clients, 100 million retail investors and 1,000 third-party distributors in more than 30 countries.

"We understand how the turbulence of the market environment is changing clients' needs and preferences - with some favouring selective approaches within certain asset classes, others preferring more quantitative or systematic investment processes," Blanque says. "This is why we developed a multispecialist approach that allows active and passive management strategies and dedicated investment solutions suited to clients' specific needs, including secure solutions for the most risk averse."

Leveraging ties with the largest sovereign wealth funds, pension funds, institutional and corporate funds in France and overseas, the group also has more than 1,000 distribution agreements with the leading platforms in Europe and Asia where it supplies eight partner networks.

Through these networks, Amundi is able to serve more than 50 million investors with innovative, simple and secure savings solutions tailored to their needs. It supports an additional 50 million clients in strongly growing markets, including South Korea, India and China, through joint ventures.

Client-focused, research-driven expertise

Following the successful merger and integration of Crédit Agricole and Société Générale in 2009, Amundi has grown its assets under management (AUM) by 42 per cent to nearly US$1.08 trillion - building the Amundi brand as a European leader with more than 100 million retail customers globally.

Such a deeply rooted retail culture enabled the group to fully transform from a captive institutional manager to a global third-party manager. It also paved the way for a diversified and integrated business model built on a strong industrial organisation with fully integrated information technology, risk management and support functions.

Through, in particular, synergetic partnerships with retail networks, Amundi has also grown international assets by 74 per cent since 2012. Within five years of its establishment, the group has risen as the top asset manager in Europe and the only non-US player among the top 10 worldwide.

"Achieving best-in-class profitability allows us to invest part of the efficiency gains in new developments such as a scalable platform that captures growth across client segments and geographies," Blanque says. "Further complemented by distribution platforms with new partners, Amundi is on the path of nurtured profitable growth."

Through the Amundi Research Center, the group is also able to offer a platform of independent research services that support its local and international investment teams and clients. Composed of nearly 130 global experts ranging from economists to strategy experts and top-ranking analysts, the research team works closely with in-house fund management teams and advisory services contributing to portfolio reviews, sector reviews, internal rating and target prices.

As part of Amundi's investment committees, the team also plays a key role in portfolio construction and optimisation, asset allocation and relative value trades - anticipating and innovating to the benefit of investment teams and clients alike.

For retail clients, the group offers a simplified, streamlined range that complies with local regulations while being tailored to each network's requirements. An extensive range of open-ended funds, real estate investment vehicles and diversification, and tax optimisation products, meanwhile, is offered to private wealth clients who prefer Amundi's best performance drivers and discretionary management services.

Within sovereigns and institutional segments, Amundi is a challenger compared to Anglo-Saxon players, but it is progressing quickly - thanks to its full set of investment capabilities and commercial presence in 30 countries across five continents.

The European asset manager develops investment solutions adapted to clients' needs and constraints for each of them. In Asia, the group has become a natural alternative to Anglo-Saxon players for investors who want to invest in the euro zone.

For businesses, Amundi provides solutions covering the entire yield curve, from money market funds to flexible cash management. In addition to supporting companies in setting up employee-related planning and saving schemes, it also helps in education programmes and employee training.

Tailored solutions extend to third-party distributors, to whom Amundi also provides high-quality investment products, local after-sales support, training programmes and other services. These award-winning products, which have earned recognition for their innovation and performance, include treasury funds, wealth management and tax optimisation solutions, and medium and long-term investment services.

Asia key towards nurtured profitable growth

With the opening of six additional international offices and hiring of almost 300 investment professionals in the past three years, Amundi aims to further strengthen its exchange-traded fund, private debt, real estate and diversified products.

The group projects a 2 per cent compound annual growth rate for the equities market between last year and 2018. It also anticipates an increase of 100 basis points for fixed-income base rates versus present levels.

"Amundi's strong organic growth will also be complemented by more bolt-on acquisitions and opportunistic partnerships across geographies, products and distribution channels," Blanque says.

Among the group's recent international bolt-on acquisitions are Smith Breeden in the US, BAWAG PSK Invest in Austria and KAF Fund Management's fixed income segment in Malaysia - all of which are performing beyond expectations. Acquired in 2013 with US$5.08 billion AUM, Smith Breeden now manages more than US$8.65 billion. BAWAG, acquired only last year, already exceeds initial AUM inflow targets, while KAF Fund Management has allowed access to new distribution in Asia.

"Smith Breeden, BAWAG and KAF Malaysia represent our three key objectives in accelerating development through external growth: reinforce product expertise, broaden distribution channels and networks and expand geographic reach with a focus on Europe and Asia," Blanque says. "In line with past acquisitions, we will continue to employ a highly disciplined approach in the analysis of each opportunity - highlighting significant value creation through revenue/cost synergies, manageable execution and integration risk and a return on investment of at least 10 per cent within three years."

Central to this growth strategy is Asia, where Amundi has been operating for more than 30 years in major financial centres including Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore. Through joint ventures in India, South Korea, China and other key locations, it also continues to grow in burgeoning markets in Asia-Pacific, where it serves more than 50 million clients and has more than US$100 billion in AUM.

Among the pioneers of the country fund concept in Asia, Amundi Hong Kong has been serving institutional investors and fund distributors across asset classes including fixed income, equities, absolute return, volatility and alternative investments.

Since its establishment in 1982, the wholly-owned Amundi subsidiary has become a global sales and distribution centre for the group's products and strategies, and an investment centre of Asian equities and balanced portfolios.

"We are able to identify the key players that can snap up market share or position themselves on profitable segments in Hong Kong's highly competitive and fragmented market," Blanque says. "As an active bottom-up manager with a strong culture of conviction, we believe that stock selection is the major driver of out-performance over the long run."

Leveraging its expertise as a worldwide industry leader, Amundi also aims to share with clients its vision of the global economy and financial markets and how these affect the construction of their portfolios over a comprehensive range of asset classes.

"Targeting to replicate our successful model in Europe, we look forward to working closely with more partner banking networks in Asia to develop transparent and straightforward savings solutions that are tailored to every client base," Blanque says.