08/12/2011
Amundi remains cautious
“In 2012, two themes will dominate. On the one hand, preservation of capital, taking into account not only risks and returns, but also liquidity. On the other, the search for returns in an environment of low interest rates,” Pascal Blanqué, chief investment officer at the Amundi group, explained on Wednesday at an end-of-year strategy presentation.In the present situation, in which the «appeasement» scenario (65%) predicts that the euro zone crisis will ease, Amundi’s portfolios show relatively high caution. Overall, they are “long on cash and underweight in risk assets such as emerging markets, credit, and equities,” says Philippe Thurbide, director of research.Naturally, these points need to be more finely nuanced to apply to specific products. Romain Boscher, CIO for equity, plans to capture potential growth in emerging markets via businesses with strong exposure to these markets.It is also a time “to adopt assymetrical strategies in order to profit from market fluctuations off of a trend which is not necessarily an upward trend.” The manager is favouring minimum variance strategies, smart equities indices, and deep value. Portfolios are underweight in financials, and are confident in commodities, agriculture, and energy.Eric Brard, global head of fixed income, says that “the priority is to shelter assets, not to earn returns.” So far, Amundi has significantly reduced its portfolios of debt from peripheral European countries, and moved assets to AAA-rated euro zone debt; the asset management firm has also diverisified its portfolios into corporate credit, a process which will continue in 2012. Amundi is preferring investment-grade credit to government bonds, is diversifying internationally, and is taking an interest in convertibles.
