AXA IM reaches record assets under management

AXA Investment Managers (AXA IM) accelerated its growth in 2014 with net new money inflows of A$27billion. AXA IM’s assets under management (AuM) at the end of December 2014 were A$891 billion up 14 per cent from A$782 billion in 2013.

Andrea Rossi, CEO of AXA IM, commented on the results: “We are, unsurprisingly, delighted with the results. Our focus is very much on managing our clients’ money well and helping our clients achieve their financial objectives. By continuing to focus on delivering for our clients, the results will come. These large inflows from our clients are testament to our existing and new clients believing that we are and will continue to be an investment firm that has the necessary capabilities to deliver on their requirements in a variety of areas. I am also delighted with the significant support we have received in 2014 from our new Australian clients. Australia is a key market for us and we believe that our partnership approach to Australia’s sophisticated client base will continue to bear fruit in the coming years”.

2014 highlights

AXA IM’s assets under management at the end of December 2014 were A$891 billion, up 14 per cent compared with 2013. This increase in assets came from strong net new money inflows of A$27 billion and A$82 billion combined market and foreign exchange rate impact. Net new money inflows of A$27 billion represents a 56 per cent increase on 2013(1).

Revenues were A$1,597 million, up 9 per cent compared with last year, due to increased management fees as a result of the rise in average assets and a diversified product mix(2). AXA IM increased its operating income by 14 per cent generating underlying earnings of A$302 million, up 23 per cent compared with 2013.

AXA IM continued to selectively grow its geographical footprint in 2014. In the US, AXA IM made a number of significant hires and a Participating Affiliate Agreement was established which allows AXA IM to distribute strategies in the US which are managed in France and will soon be extended to cover the UK. In 2015, AXA IM will continue to grow its third party business in both the US and Canada, where it won some significant mandates in 2014.

AXA IM has been present in Asia since 1998 with offices in Hong-Kong, Beijing, Singapore, Sydney, and Tokyo, as well as joint-ventures in Shanghai, Seoul and Mumbai. AXA IM’s joint ventures were extremely successful in 2014 and made a strong contribution to net new money inflows. In 2014, 21 new funds were added across Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia, bringing the total number of registered funds to 37 across the three markets. In 2015, AXA IM plans to continue to grow its profile, client base and product offering across Asia Pacific.

Craig Hurt, AXA IM’s Director of Australia and New Zealand, commented: “AXA IM celebrates its 20th anniversary this year and are delighted with this great global result. Locally, 2014 has been a fantastic year. Our SmartBeta strategies in Global Equity and Global Credit as well as our ESG capabilities have found significant traction with local investors. Two examples are Mercer Global Investors who now have A$180mn invested in our Global Credit SmartBeta strategy and Financial Index Wealth Accountants who have A$70mn in our Global Equity SmartBeta ESG strategy. The Global Equity SmartBeta ESG strategy is 5% ahead of benchmark after the first 6 months, has a minimum investment of A$5mn and can be accessed via the BT Asgard platform. We are delighted that two household names in the Australian market have entrusted us with their clients’ money and we will seek to honour that trust in the years to come.”

On 18-22 May 2015, two people well-known to Australian investors, Tim Gardner, Global Head of Institutional Client Group and Mark Tinker, Head of AXA Framlington Asia will be speaking at AXA IM’s annual roundtable series in Australia.

Andrea Rossi said:“We are becoming more and more global. Today, we employ over 2,300 people, including 250 portfolio managers, in 28 cities across 21 countries. We now employ more than 150 people in the US and over 100 in Asia, not including our joint ventures. We will continue to expand our global footprint, but in a targeted fashion. We want to accelerate our growth in key mature markets where we don’t yet have a significant market share, such as the US, Japan and the Nordics. In high growth markets, such as Asia and Latin America, we will continue to develop our distribution coverage. We will also strengthen our historically robust positions in Europe by reinforcing our presence in the retail and unit-linked markets. We are committed to ensuring that our offering is as relevant as possible for our clients and therefore take a segmented approach, for example we have a team dedicated to sovereign wealth funds and a strong focus on insurance companies.”

“2014 was a good year for AXA IM with strong financial results and investment performance and continued product innovation. However, we want to achieve even more in 2015. We are convinced that our diversity across asset classes, clients, and geographical locations will help us to achieve our growth ambitions.”