Eurizon, the asset management company of the Intesa Sanpaolo group, closed the first nine months of 2018 with positive results, despite a context characterized by volatility and uncertainty on the financial markets. The company communicates it. The value of assets under management as at 30 September 2018 amounted to 312 billion euros, up by 1,5% compared to September 2017.
Consolidated net income (including minority interests) for the nine months is 350 million euros (-3,6% compared to the same period of 2017). Excluding the extraordinary contribution deriving from the sale of Allfunds Bank (which had an impact on the 2017 profit of 25,3 million euro) the net result in 2018 shows a growth of 3,6%. The commission margin rose to 532 million, up by more than 7% compared to the first nine months of the previous year. The optimal levels of efficiency are confirmed, with a cost/income ratio of less than 21%.
Total net inflows in the first nine months of the year amounted to 4,9 billion euro, thanks above all to open-ended funds in which Eurizon ranks first in Italy with net flows of over 4,8 billion, almost 60% of system according to Assogestioni data. Flexible funds continue to be the main players with 6,3 billion inflows. The contribution of institutional portfolio management was also good, contributing around 3,3 billion, almost 80% of industry funding in this category according to the latest data available.
THE GROWTH OF PIR CONTINUES
Continues growth trend of PIR funds which since the beginning of the year have recorded a collection of 678 million. The assets under management (assets under administration) for this type of fund, they thus reach 2,3 billion, to which are added approximately 500 million on solutions for institutional customers. "Although there is a slowdown compared to 2017 - specifies the Eurizon press release - the figure is in line with the trend in overall funding that the entire sector is recording". Net subscriptions on PIRs today represent around 14% of Eurizon's total funding. As part of the collaboration with Poste Italiane, the BancoPosta Orizzonte Reddito flexible fund, launched last April with management delegation to Eurizon, reached and exceeded €300 million in AUM in six months.
Eurizon has also been developing a range of offers for some time that combines the creation of long-term value for savers with a strong focus on developing a production system that respects environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles. In addition to having integrated these principles into the entire investment process and having created 19 focused funds on this type of investment, Eurizon confirms its leadership in sustainable and responsible open-ended funds with assets of 4,85 billion euro and inflows of 1,26 billion at the end of the first half of the year according to Assogestioni data.
DIVERSIFICATION IN EUROPE AND CHINA
Moving on to analyze the results achieved by Eurizon's subsidiaries and investees, the diversification of geographical positioning is bearing fruit. The contribution of the Chinese Penghua was positive which recorded net inflows of 5,5 billion euro. The assets of the Shenzhen company stood at 79 billion euros at the end of September, thus bringing the total assets of Eurizon to 391 billion. In the period considered, Penghua was authorized to launch Chinese individual pension funds on which important infra-group synergies were exploited, since Eurizon, thanks to the experience gained in Italy in this business, provided important support in definition of the management model.
The three structures that form part of the Eastern European hub, VUB AM (Slovakia), CIB IFM (Hungary) and PBZ Invest (Croatia) achieved, at the end of September, total assets of 3,8 billion euro and deposits, since the beginning of the year, of 106 million euros. New product initiatives are being developed on these markets with the objective of consolidating the leadership position in the retail segment and aiming at a growing penetration in the local institutional segment. In line with the new guidelines in the international development strategy, in July Eurizon strengthened its presence in Germany and opened a commercial presence in Switzerland.
Furthermore, in the first days of November, the garrison in the Iberian peninsula was strengthened with the entry of a dedicated resource with commercial responsibility for Spain and Portugal. In the third quarter, the offer dedicated to the Banca dei Territori Division of Intesa Sanpaolo was expanded with investment solutions that aim at currency diversification, such as Eurizon Multiasset Currency and Eurizon Obbligazionario Dollaro. The offer dedicated to Intesa Sanpaolo's Private Banking Division has also been enriched with Eurizon Opportunity Select, a flexible multi-asset fund that integrates Eurizon's best expertise in a dynamic investment solution capable of adapting to the evolution of the market context.
Lastly, Eurizon recalls that it has set up an internal division dedicated to the development offinancial education in Italy.
“In a context of strong uncertainty on the markets – he commented the managing director of Eurizon, Tommaso Corcos -, we keep our focus on performance, but the primary objective is confirmed to be close to our customers, supporting the networks of distributors so that they can guide savers towards informed choices that are not dictated by emotion. We do not lose sight of the importance of innovation, we aim to anticipate the market: last year we launched the first PIRs and in this period we are working on the evolution of this instrument into a closed-end fund, an ELTIF, which allows you to invest in SMEs on a horizon consistent with the objective of growth of these realities”.
