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BNP Paribas Asset Management reorganises its investment management teams to meet new market challenges

BNP Paribas Asset Management is merging its traditional investment management and its indexed & structured investment management teams to create an innovative and pioneering asset management model.

In recent years, the pace of change in the financial markets has accelerated. This has manifested itself in different ways “including: financial innovation, the development of investment products produced by trading floors, the growth of index-linked funds and the involvement of hedge funds and private equity funds. As a result, the range of investment solutions available to investors has increased considerably, creating a need for greater resources, expertise and greater diversity in fund managers' skills,” stated Gilles Glicenstein, the Chairman of BNP Paribas Asset Management. “Traditional investment management remains the cornerstone of our corporate culture, and still has strong growth potential provided it continues to respond to changes in the market. We have therefore decided to unite our investment teams through an innovative project rather than have competing teams in separate subsidiaries”.

The new organisation of Traditional, Structured and Indexed Investment Management, under the responsibility of Chief Investment Officer Christian Dargnat, will be broken up into three main areas:
- Alpha management: combining money-markets, European fixed income, European equities, US equities, Japanese equities, global and emerging market equities. The recognised expertise pooled in this unit represents the core of BNPP AM's traditional business line.
- SIGMA portfolio management: including structured and capital-guaranteed investment management, index-linked portfolio management and ETFs, balanced fund management and asset allocation. By merging these teams, BNPP AM will strengthen its expertise in risk allocation and multi-strategy overlay.
- IBS(Investment & Business Solutions): including expertise and solutions. IBS helps all the investment management teams in their bid to offer new sources of added value.

“We want the teams and various investment management techniques to intersect. Our new organisational model aims to enhance performance. By building bridges between the specialist units and their experts, BNPP AM intends to fully exploit new opportunities in the market,” said Christian Dargnat, Chief Investment Officer at BNP Paribas Asset Management.

The new organisation of the investment management teams will improve the coherence and strength of the three main divisions in the Asset Management business line:

- Traditional, Structured & Indexed Investment Management, including BNP Paribas Asset Management's Alpha, Sigma and IBS investment management teams under Christian Dargnat, and FFTW's international fixed income, credit and structured credit teams, under Philippe Lespinard
- Wealth Management, under Philippe Marchessaux, including FundQuest, Cardif Asset Management and BNP Paribas Private Portfolio Management
- Alternative investment management and private equity, under Chantal Mazzacurati, including Overlay Asset Management, CooperNeff Alternative Managers, and BNP Paribas Private Equity, along with the addition of Fauchier Partners for funds of hedge funds.


In 2006, the asset management business line saw strong organic and external growth. The beginning of the integration of BNL Gestion gave BNP Paribas Asset Management a second domestic retail and private banking platform in Italy, and there were significant developments in emerging markets, especially India and Turkey.
BNP Paribas Asset Management is pursuing a growth strategy based on increasing its range of specialities and developing new expertise for its clients.



BNP Paribas Asset Management is a leader in the European asset management industry, with euro 326 billion of assets under management * and 2,000 staff servicing clients in 66 countries. It offers a range of management capabilities with a shared focus on excellence, robustness and consistency of investment processes as well as accuracy of risk control, through a multi-specialist approach. Responsible Investment is one of BNP Paribas Asset Management's key investment themes, and the company is a globally recognised player in this field.
Specialised fund management teams are active in the world's major financial centres including Paris, London, New York, Tokyo and Hong Kong. Parvest, BNP Paribas Asset Management's flagship fund is one of the leading Luxembourg-domiciled umbrella funds and is registered for sale in 26 countries.
BNP Paribas Asset Management's excellence is reflected by Fitch's second-highest rating: AM2+

* Figures as at 31 December 2006, assets under advisory included
For more information, go to: www.bnpparibas-am.com