Company Reports

Amundi grew its net income for the first quarter by 29% year on year—15% ahead of the company‑compiled consensus. Management fee margins proved more resilient than expected despite ongoing outflows from the high-margin UniCredit book.

Amundi increased its net income for the first quarter by 15% year on year—10% ahead of company‑compiled consensus—driven by an exceptionally strong quarter for performance fees. Client inflows were nearly 3 times higher than expected, even as UniCredit‑related outflows accelerated.

Nuveen’s all-cash bid of GBP 5.90 per share for Schroders has been making headlines and overshadowed the firm’s strong second-half results, where adjusted operating profit surged 43%, and efficiency gains pushed its cost/income ratio below guidance.

The captive distribution agreements that Amundi has in place with its banking partners are central to the investment case for Amundi. While retail clients' assets make up only around 37% of Amundi's consolidated assets under management, the firm generates more than 70% of its revenue from retail assets. Amundi originates the bulk of its retail assets through exclusive distribution agreements it has with its banking partners—Crédit Agricole, Société Générale and Sabadell Asset Management. Assets generated through these captive channels are highly profitable because they are cheaper to distribute and tend to be stickier than third-party assets.

Amundi recorded positive inflows in the third quarter, although these slowed compared with the first half, while the negative foreign-exchange effect normalized. Adjusted net income rose by 5% year over year and improved sequentially by 3% versus the previous quarter. Shares were down 4% on Oct. 28.

The captive distribution agreements that Amundi has in place with its banking partners are central to the investment case for Amundi. While retail clients' assets make up only around 30% of Amundi's consolidated assets under management, the firm generates more than 70% of its revenue from retail assets. Amundi originates the bulk of its retail assets through exclusive distribution agreements it has with its banking partners—Crédit Agricole, Société Générale, UniCredit, and Sabadell Asset Management. Assets generated through these captive channels are highly profitable because they are cheaper to distribute and tend to be stickier than third-party assets.

Amundi reported a 5% drop in second-quarter net profit, adjusted for the sale of a controlling stake in its US operations. Weaker client inflows, declining fee margins, and dollar depreciation affected the results. The firm's shares fell nearly 9% on July 29.

The captive distribution agreements that Amundi has in place with its banking partners are central to the investment case for Amundi. While assets from retail clients only make up around 30% of Amundi's consolidated assets under management, Amundi generates more than 70% of its revenue from retail assets. Amundi originates the bulk of its retail assets through exclusive distribution agreements it has with its banking partners—Credit Agricole, Societe Generale, UniCredit, and Sabadell Asset Management. Assets generated through these captive channels are very profitable as they are cheaper to distribute and the assets tend to be stickier compared with third-party assets.

Narrow-moat Amundi reported a solid fourth quarter, with net income growing 20% year over year, leading to EPS of EUR 1.84, comfortably exceeding the FactSet consensus of EUR 1.70. Full-year net income also showed 13% growth, surpassing our expectations. The strong performance was driven by significant inflows, which doubled in 2024 compared with 2023, pushing total assets under management, or AUM, to a record EUR 2.240 trillion—a 10% year-over-year increase. We believe Amundi’s success stems from its market leadership and growth in passive strategies, balanced by scale advantages that support double-digit EPS expansion. We leave our EUR 82 per share fair value estimate unchanged and view shares as undervalued.

Narrow-moat Amundi reported solid results for the third quarter of 2024, driven by modest inflows and strong market tailwinds, reaching a record EUR 2.2 trillion in assets under management. Amundi is optimistic about market recovery, showing positive inflows in active management mandates, primarily in bonds (EUR 12 billion). However, higher-margin equity and multi-asset products continue to experience outflows (EUR 18 billion). Exchange-traded funds and structured products remained resilient, with EUR 4.6 billion in inflows during the reported quarter. Strong net income growth and controlled costs put Amundi well on track to meet its 2025 targets. We maintain our fair value estimate of EUR 82 per share and consider the shares undervalued.

Narrow-moat Amundi reported a solid 9% year-on-year increase in net income for the second quarter of 2024. Management fee income benefited from higher assets under management and broadly stable fee income margins. Net new money inflows were very healthy with strong inflows in the third-party retail channel and Asia.

The captive distribution agreements that Amundi has in place with its banking partners are central to the investment case for Amundi. While assets from retail clients only make up around 30% of Amundi's consolidated assets under management, Amundi generates more than 70% of its revenue from retail assets. Amundi originates the bulk of its retail assets through exclusive distribution agreements it has with its banking partners—Credit Agricole, Societe Generale, UniCredit, and Sabadell Asset Management. Assets generated through these captive channels are very profitable as they are cheaper to distribute and the assets tend to be stickier than third-party assets.

Narrow-moat Amundi reported a solid 6% year-on-year earnings increase for first-quarter 2024. For the fourth consecutive quarter, net client inflows grew, complemented by a tailwind from favorable market valuations, resulting in an all-time high assets under management, or AUM, of EUR 2.116 trillion. Despite the market shift toward lower-margin passive strategies, Amundi booked net inflows in its active mandates, with a substantial portion flowing from retail clients. Net inflows into higher-margin areas should support fee margins in the coming periods. We applaud Amundi's cost control as it once again reported an industry-leading adjusted cost/income ratio of 53%, keeping costs below revenue growth (3.3% versus 3.8%, respectively, for year-on-year comparable).

Narrow-moat Amundi delivered a solid final quarter to finish 2023 ahead of our expectations, with management fee margins holding up better than we thought. This is an admirable outcome considering the ongoing client shift toward lower-margin passive products and the sizable inflows into treasury products as clients sought an alternative to the low interest rate on offer for bank deposits. Amundi managed to keep inflationary pressures at bay, keeping costs stable across all four quarters. Active management products continued to suffer from outflows, which Amundi managed to recoup in its passive products. Amundi announced the acquisition of Swiss private markets multimanager Alpha Associates. It believes the acquisition will add around 2% to Amundi’s earnings. It is far from a transformational acquisition but signals Amundi’s intent to hunt for opportunities in higher-margin market areas to deploy capital. While this is not the type of acquisition that will excite the market, we view it as an excellent example of sound capital allocation. It will help Amundi defend its margins, and the small scale limits downside risk.

The captive distribution agreements that Amundi has in place with its banking partners are central to the investment case for Amundi. While assets from retail clients only make up around 30% of Amundi's consolidated assets under management, Amundi generates nearly 75% of its revenue from retail assets. Amundi originates the bulk of its retail assets through exclusive distribution agreements it has with its banking partners—Credit Agricole, Societe Generale, UniCredit, and Sabadell Asset Management. Assets generated through these captive channels are very profitable as they are cheaper to distribute and the assets tend to be stickier than third-party assets.

We are dropping coverage of some of our European banks and asset managers. We will no longer be reporting on Santander, Credit Agricole, Julius Baer, Unicredit, Intesa Sanpaolo, Mediobanca, Amundi, KBC, DWS Group, BBVA, and Schroders. We provide broad coverage of more than 1,500 companies globally and periodically adjust our coverage according to investor interest and staffing.

Narrow-moat Amundi reported a net profit of EUR 304 million for fourth-quarter 2021, 11% higher than a year earlier. Quarterly revenue grew by 9% year on year, management fees increased 16% year on year, while performance declined 25%. Despite this, performance fees remain elevated compared with the long-run average. Operating expenses were very well controlled and increased only 5% year on year, supporting a 2% improvement in the cost/income ratio to 48%. It was another strong quarter for net new money inflows; pleasingly flows into active management strategies remain robust, supporting margin expansion. Inflows into high-margin retail products grew faster than institutional mandates. Net management fees/assets under management increased to 17.9 basis points for fiscal 2021 compared with 17.4 basis points for fiscal 2020 due to the favourable mix effects of having more active and retail AUM.

The captive distribution agreements that Amundi has in place with its banking partners are central to the investment case for Amundi. While assets from retail clients only make up around 30% of Amundi's consolidated assets under management, Amundi generates nearly 75% of its revenue from retail assets. Amundi originates the bulk of its retail assets through exclusive distribution agreements it has with its banking partners - Credit Agricole, Societe Generale, UniCredit and in the future, Banco Sabadell. Assets generated through these captive channels are very profitable as they are cheaper to distribute and the assets tend to be stickier than third party assets.

Narrow-moat Amundi reported a net profit of EUR 321 million for the third quarter of 2021, 46% higher than Amundi reported a year earlier for the second quarter. Quarterly revenue grew by 26% year on year. Performance fees remain elevated compared to the long-run average, but it did decline quarter on quarter. Management fees increased by 18% year on year, outpacing the 9% increase in assets under management which points to wider fee margins. Operating expenses increased by 18% year-on-year, supporting a 3% improvement in the cost/income ratio to 48%. We raise our fair value estimate to EUR 90/share, from EUR 74/share previously, due to the stronger than anticipated flows into actively managed funds which also supports the outlook for fee margins.

Narrow-moat Amundi reported a net profit of EUR 448 million for the second quarter of 2021, which, however, included a capital gain of EUR 114 million. Adjusted net profit of EUR 345 million was 48% higher than what Amundi reported a year earlier for the second quarter. Revenue for the second quarter of 2021 grew by 36% year on year and it came in 10% higher than what Amundi booked for the first quarter of 2021. A nearly fivefold increase in performance fees explained half of the increase in revenue, while the 20% increase in management fees accounted for the other half of revenue growth. Even though costs increased by 22% year on year, the healthy revenue growth supported a 5-percentage-point reduction in the cost to income ratio to 46% for the second quarter of 2021, compared with 51% a year earlier. We are likely to increase our fair value estimate of EUR 74 per share by at least 10%, and we maintain our narrow moat rating.