A very adverse backdrop

The Group company specialising in collective investment performed its activities in 2018 in a context of a clear economic slowdown and loss of risk appetite, reflected in significant contractions in financial markets and corporate bonds.

Consequently, managed assets, which had grown in 2017, experienced a downturn, despite the efforts made to expand the range of funds, both in terms of passively managed funds (emerging and global equities) and actively managed funds (energy efficiency).

The results of the different activities in 2018 were as follows:

Investment funds. Managed equity came to €8,372 million at year-end, slightly down, by 0.5%, on the same date in 2017. The downturn was more pronounced when considering the third-party funds distributed by the bank: 5.6%, to €16,353 million.

Sicavs. The poor performance of the stock markets resulted in a 10% drop in their property assets, which came to €2,370 million compared to €2,637 million the previous year.

Pension funds. Equity also dropped, for the same reason as mentioned for SICAVs. Following the €2,459 million recognised in 2017 for this type of product, the figure dropped to €2,359 million in 2018, a loss of 4% in relative terms.

Delegated management. The regulatory changes resulting from the introduction of the MiFID II Directive resulted in this type of investment being less attractive compared to profiled funds (based on the risk appetite of each customer). Portfolios dropped 22% and their value at 31 December came to €1,894 million.

The outlook for 2019 is that risk markets will become more attractive and provide new, positive yields, which must be harnessed by insisting on the professional management of investment funds compared to forms of direct management.