Loomis Sayles Growth N LGRNX

On April 6 2021, Natixis Investment Managers announced the departure of CEO Jean Raby after four years at the helm. Under his leadership, the group brought several firms into its fold (such as MV Credit, Thematics, WCM Investment Managers) and grew its total assets under management to more than EUR 1,100 billion as of December 2020. Raby also had the difficult task of maintaining coherence across the multiaffiliate galaxy, treading a fine line between maintaining each affiliate's investment autonomy on one hand whilst seeking synergies and centralizing certain functions like risk management on the other. Natixis Investment Managers' multiaffiliate model was nevertheless rocked by multiple crises in recent years. Its France-based subsidiary Ostrum (formerly Natixis Asset Management) was fined by the French financial regulator in 2017 for failings in its range of formula funds. Ostrum subsequently underwent a series of cost cuts and was eventually restructured through a partnership with La Banque Postale Asset Management in 2020, which led to a heavy rationalization of the fund range and transfers of investment teams to other affiliates. Natixis Investment Managers' affiliate H2O Asset Management also encountered severe issues with illiquid investments, which led it to gate redemptions and ringfence assets in several of its funds. Last year, Natixis Investment Managers and H2O reached an agreement to part ways, and H2O's co-founders are expected to buy back the firm in the coming months. There are brighter areas in the group, though, such as US-based Loomis Sayles and Harris Associates. Both have largely retained their autonomy and investor-friendly practices, though Natixis Investment Managers has had some input into the product development and into certain hiring decisions (such as Loomis Sayles' move to hire a European credit team from Kempen).