Amundi has created Amundi Outsourced Chief Investment Officer (OCIO) Solutions Division, an investment and advisory team that offers investment services aimed at institutional clients and family offices.
In a press release, the asset manager pointed out that OCIO solutions are at the core of its investment management offering, having been carried out for Crédit Agricole Group companies for over 30 years. They have also been offering OCIO solutions to external clients since 2009, totalling 44 billion euros managed on behalf of non-Group companies.
“Against a backdrop of increasingly complex operational and investment challenges for institutional investors, exacerbated by the recent crisis, Amundi formally established in January 2021 an OCIO Solutions Division, embedded within its multi-asset investment platform“, says the statement. The new offering is structured in order to help clients focus on their strategic goals, by shifting to Amundi some or all of the investment functions typically performed by an Investment Committee.
Investment services will be led by a team of senior advisors within the asset manager, specialized per client type, with in depth knowledge of their challenges. In its view, this new set up will help address clients’ crucial strategic, investment and operational needs.
All in all, Amundi OCIO Solutions Division offers institutional clients a variety of fully customizable solutions to manage the complexity of their investments, from pure advisory to fully implemented portfolios and investment platforms, building on state-of-the-art infrastructure while benefitting from the set-up of a leading global player in asset management.
Specifically, OCIO solutions cover: governance and strategy, tactical asset allocation, asset liability management, funds and managers selection, architecture design and implementation, portfolio and risk management, risk overlays, reporting, and knowledge transfer and trainings.
Facing a complex environment
This new division combines 28 OCIO experts, leveraging on the multi-asset investment platform with more than 200 professionals, the 140 analysts and researchers and the whole range of Amundi investment resources present in 40 locations across the world. The division is organised around OCIO senior advisors with strong client experience and dedicated to specific client types: pension funds, insurance companies, family offices, sovereigns, central banks, corporates, agencies. The OCIO experts are located in Paris, Milan, Munich and Hong-Kong for increased proximity with clients.
“This new division leverages our comprehensive expertise and research-driven investment culture to support institutions on their investments, from key strategic asset allocation to portfolio management implementation. In an increasingly complex and sophisticated financial environment, this new OCIO set-up furthers Amundi’s strategy to complement its core asset management activity with services through a long-term partnership approach”, Matteo Germano, Head of the multi-asset investment platform, said.
Meanwhile, Laurent Tignard, Head of Amundi’s OCIO Solutions Division, added that institutional investors are facing a series of challenges, like low interest rates, macro and markets uncertainties, and IT and regulatory pressures. Now, they can outsource this operational investment complexity to the asset manager as an OCIO Partner and focus on their core business.
“We will optimize their operational structure, help them reduce costs, improve investments decision-making and provide better visibility and control of overall risks, both operational and investment. Our recommendations and investments will be aiming at benefiting each client”, he highlighted.
For Funds Society, Madrid