Birth of a European leader in asset management: Ostrum Asset Management
Natixis and La Banque Postale have finalized the merger of the fixed income and insurance-related asset management businesses of Ostrum Asset Management and La Banque Postale Asset Management, giving birth to a front-ranking player in Europe.
Jointly owned by Natixis (55% through its subsidiary Natixis Investment Managers) and La Banque Postale (45% through its asset management division) as part of the partnership between Groupe BPCE and La Banque Postale, the new entity at the end of September 2020 boasted more than 430 billion euros 1 in assets under management and more than 590 billion euros 1 in assets under administration via its service platform.
Ostrum AM now offers two distinct and independent offerings: asset management and dedicated investment services. As such, it joins the ranks of the top 10 asset managers in Europe 2 dedicated to institutional investors (insurance companies, pension funds, and large corporations) operating with liability constraints. It has announced strong ambitions in Socially Responsible Investment (SRI): by 2021, 100% of its assets under management will be screened for Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) criteria and, by 2022, 98% of its assets under management in open-ended funds will carry SRI labels.
A new vision
To mark this new stage in its development, Ostrum AM's identity has been reworked around a new tagline “Enhancing your power to act”: through investment, Ostrum AM supports its clients in delivering on the commitments they have made to their own customers and, working in tandem with its clientele, helps to underpin the long-term goals, health and retirement of European citizens.
Through this merger, Groupe BPCE reasserts its expertise and ambition in asset & wealth management, a business line that reached 1,060 billion euros in assets under management at the beginning of November following the creation of this new entity (see Group quarterly results).
For further details, read the interview with Philippe Setbon, CEO of Ostrum AM, on the Natixis website.
1 Consolidated data as at September 30, 2020. Source: Ostrum Asset Management. Assets under administration include Ostrum AM's outstandings. Services provided for a given client may only include certain items from the full range.
2 In terms of assets under management for institutional clients in Europe.