In October 2021, Candriam, one of the leading European asset managers, has chosen CACEIS’ “ETF Excellence” offer and has transferred the administrative management of its ETF funds. Fabrice Cuchet, COO of Candriam, explains the reasons for this migration and his expectations.
Fabrice Cuchet, you were appointed COO of Candriam on 1st January 2021. What were the highlights over the past year for Candriam?
2021 was a very good year for Candriam in terms of both product performance and net new money. We ended the year with nearly €160 billion of assets under management, up 13% on 2020.
There were lots of new developments, especially regarding ESG - an area in which we are continuing to invest and establish ourself as a leader in terms of product, reporting and corporate approach.
After entrusting your Luxembourg and French funds to CACEIS in 2020, you recently chose CACEIS’ ETF Excellence solution and transferred your ETF assets at the end of 2021; what were the reasons behind your decision?
Indeed, we transferred our ETF assets to CACEIS in 2021, after transferring our other funds in 2020.
Our primary aim is to be ever more efficient by bringing all of our funds and ETFs together under one roof. The merger also presents new options, such as having traditional classes sit alongside ETF classes for a single fund - thus meeting our future needs.
We felt reassured by CACEIS’ strategic decision to develop its range of ETF services, including TEEPI ETF, and become a key player in Europe.
What do you expect from CACEIS as a partner?
We chose CACEIS because the number one expectation is clearly the quality of service, a responsive and attentive customer service and approachable managers.
Obviously, it’s also very important that CACEIS is supporting Candriam’s commercial development in terms of products as well as regional distribution coverage.
Finally, we expect CACEIS to offer added-value services beyond its core businesses and provide direct or indirect outsourcing opportunities.
More specifically concerning your ESG strategy, what is the best way that CACEIS can support you?
With the growth of ESG, CACEIS must continue to show cutting-edge innovation in its business to support the likes of Candriam. We would be delighted to help shape things with the Group at this level.
If I had to think of two areas which CACEIS could work on in future, I would suggest:
- maybe improving certain indicators specific to CACEIS, such as the CO2 emissions from our activities. With greater transparency, we too could improve our indicators by factoring data from our own providers into our impact calculations;
- being more innovative with pricing: for example, to promote the development of ESG investing, CACEIS could set different prices with a lower rate for ESG funds?
