12/06/2013
Comgest posts strong inflows in Europe
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Since the beginning of the year, Comgest has posted inflows especially in Europe, with subscriptions of about EUR600m, says Vincent Strauss, chairman of Comgest and head of management, at a press conference on 11 June. Comgest has also posted subscriptions to the Global/US unit. The Europe unit now has about EUR4bn in assets, compared with EUR3.2bn as of the end of 2012, and the Global/US unit has EUR1.5bn, compared with EUR1.2bn. This is a welcome development, says Strauss, as it helps to rebalance geographical regions. Meanwhile, the emerging markets unit, which continued to post inflows earlier in the year, has since seen significant redemptions. As a result, since the beginning of the year, Comgest shows outflows of about EUR150m, while assets under management remain stable at about EUR15.5bn. Citing the Global Equity strategy of Comgest, Strauss says that the growth in profits at Japanese firms is not yet a reality. Japan has strong GDP growth outlooks for 2013 and 2014 (48.3% and 19.3% according to Citigroup/Nomura), in comparison with emerging markets (14.5% and 11.3%) and the United States (7.4% and 11.3%), while the portfolios of major investors are often underweight on Japan.
