The strategy which has existed for nearly 30 years has resonated strongly with French investors and will now be available outside of France for the first time.
The fund is aimed at investors seeking a conviction-led active investment management approach and aims to outperform the MSCI Europe index [1] over a recommended minimum investment period of five years. The thematic fund has exposure to a traditionally defensive stock universe, consisting of European and international food and consumer companies.
The food and consumer sector can potentially offer some attractive opportunities for example,
- Historically, companies are less sensitive to economic cycles - they can potentially generate steady results and are often referred to as “safe-haven stocks”;
- These stocks can be boosted by product innovation and investment
- Companies can benefit from dynamic consumer spending in emerging markets resulting from the growth of the middle classes and improvement in purchasing power.
The fund will be managed by Francoise Lafitte who has a strong track record in this sector having run a similar strategy the AAA Actions Agro Alimentaire fund. At the end of March 2017, the AAA Actions Agro Alimentaire fund displayed an annualized performance of 9.3% [2] since inception in 1985, with lower volatility [3] than some of the major equity indexes. The fund has an AUM of €1.1bn.
Commenting on the launch, Matthieu Duncan, CEO of Natixis Asset Management said “The launch of Natixis AM Funds Lux-domiciled SICAV is a clear reflection of our international expansion strategy. The thematic equity expertise, with its strong track record should resonate well with international investors’. Natixis AM Funds were launched in 2014 and offers all investors privileged access to Natixis Asset Management’s areas of investment expertise”.
It now includes 25 sub-funds with total assets under management of around €4.5bn a t end-March 2017.
