How european distribution will work

While the lion’s share of assets handled by Natixis Asset Management are overseen for institutional clients, with money market funds the most popular of all the products, it is the retail and third party distribution businesses which make a bigger impact on the bottom line. All mandates are profitable, according to Mr Voisin, including the briefs which Natixis runs for the fledgling French pensions system, the FRR, notorious for paying miserly fees. “We are definitely not losing money on these mandates, but it is more profitable dealing with third party distribution,” says Mr Voisin. “Our objective is to balance our business between institutional, third party and our proprietary networks. Third party distribution is growing fast. It is still a limited market in size, but that is changing fast.” Expanding third party distribution is a priority identified by Mr Voisin, with the first step being to properly staff and resource offices, particularly in Spain, Germany and Italy. Currently, Natixis runs negligible amounts outside its home market for distributors. “The product range for European distribution is ready,” says Mr Voisin. “In the past few months, we have had successes in the German market with money market funds, which are a typically French speciality, but with significant potential in Germany. “The kind of product we have been designing for the retail French market can also be distributed in Italy and Spain. These are markets where structured products – one of the line of specialities we have in France under the Natixis AM type of offering – have also proved popular.” Distribution efforts in Europe will be managed by a dedicated unit, Natixis Global Associates, which will work particularly closely with large, wholesale distributors such as UBS and Merrill Lynch. “We will adopt the concepts we have been used to working with on the US side,” says Mr Voisin. “For us, this is the natural route to expand the business.”