A Dutch national, now based in Paris after working in Luxembourg and Switzerland, Mr Pellis said: “It would not be good if we want to do business in the UK, if there is a vote to leave Europe. It will become more complicated, by definition.
“Everything will be questioned, everything will be broken down. It’s not good for doing business and the UK will become isolated.” Passporting and the use of Ucits [Undertakings for Collective Investments in Transferable Securities] is likely to be heavily affected in the event of a Brexit, he added.
Amundi is one of the largest fund managers in the world, and the largest in Europe. It has E950bn (£739bn) of assets under management, which is split evenly between retail and institutional.
In the first nine months of its financial year, flows into its products amounted to E66bn, with E34bn in retail and the balance, slightly less, in institutional.
It would not be good if we want to do business in the UK, if there is a vote to leave EuropeIt is the child of a joint venture between Credit Agricole and Société Générale, with the former holding 80 per cent and the latter 20 per cent. Created six years ago, the company went public in 2015 when Société Générale wanted to sell out of the business, and it floated its stake on the stock exchange.
While Amundi is big in France, Mr Pellis wants to branch out further into the UK.
He said: “If you talk about the Greek crisis, we can talk about it as a European asset manager, or look at it from a different perspective. We have a different view about how the world is developing – it’s a USP which not many people have.
“The other USP is that the French are very good technicians. We might have more difficulties explaining to the end investor because they’re complicated solutions, but they do work in certain circumstances.”
He wants to expand the company in the UK, because he sees it as an accessible market.
Mr Pellis said: “The UK is a market that is not bank driven. If you compare it to the rest of Europe, there, the clients are owned by the banks. In the UK, there is easier access to clients. The UK market is open architecture, and one of the largest markets in the European space.
“On top of this, the UK market is the hub for cross-border players – larger distributors will run out of London.”
Admitting that he is come a little late to the UK market, he plans to go “step by step”, pitching his company’s products to discretionary managers, multi-managers and wealth managers.
One of the company’s products that is popular is global fixed income, and the company has developed a UK fixed income product. It is designed to search for alpha in obscure places, mindful of potential rising interest rates, but without shorting the fund.
Mr Pellis also hopes to take advantage of increasing longevity by promoting a fund that makes the best of increasing old age. He said: “There’s an opportunity where people are getting older and living longer, and spending their money differently. We have a product called Europe silver age that focuses on healthcare, which is something that people can relate to.”
Amundi is also big in exchange-traded funds. Mr Pellis said: “We run E60bn in ETFs – we have many different strategies; the low price is an issue. We’re not promoting leveraged ETFs, and we’re not in commodities. We have got ETFs in European stocks, emerging markets and Japanese equities.
“Yes, it is a challenging time to be promoting new investments, but if you’re a long-term investor saving over a period of time, then today is a very good position to step into the markets. The thing is trying to decide when you have reached the bottom.”
To cater for this situation, Amundi has a volatilty fund, the Ucits IV Sicav, which invests in futures and options. In the year-to-date, it has achieved between 2.5 per cent to 4 per cent, with a rolling annualised return of 8 per cent. Many multi-asset funds and discretionary wealth managers have been buying it up.
Mr Pellis said: “It’s a normal fund that everybody can buy,” and suggests holding 3 per cent to 5 per cent of it in one’s portfolio over the long-term. Current market conditions means the fund is doing very well – during more stable times it loses money.
Mr Pellis who has worked for Threadneedle and LGT Capital Management, now finds himself at a French company, but how does it compare? He said: “My French is getting better.
“There are technical people you can have very intelligent conversations with, and I can bring very good people to our clients. We have a matrix organisation, which makes talking to people very important and sharing ideas and thoughts. That’s different if you have a top-down structure.”
Melanie Tringham is features editor of Financial Adviser
Christian Pellis’s career ladder
2013-present – Global head of external distribution and member of the management committee, Amundi Asset Management
2010-2012 – Executive director, head of global distribution, LGT Capital Management
1998–2010 – Head of European distribution in London, Threadneedle Investments
1998–2001 – Regional sales director for Europe, Threadneedle Investments
1993–1998 – Project manager, Flemings Fund Management (Luxembourg
1993 – Business degree in Business economics and accountancy (SPD)
1989 – Diploma in hotel management
