by Mathieu Rosemain and Valentina Za
PARIS/MILAN (Reuters) – Amundi is considering offering better terms to UniCredit to extend their distribution agreement beyond 2027, a source close to the matter said.
The French management company could in particular propose to UniCredit to receive a larger share of the fees collected on the sale of products, said this source on condition of anonymity.
Renewing the deal would protect the leading European fund manager’s position in a market that represents almost a fifth of its assets under management (AUM) outside of France.
Analysts were concerned about the impact on collections of a possible loss of the contract that Amundi concluded with its main distributor in Italy, where its assets under management amount to 197 billion euros, or 10% of the total.
Amundi did not wish to comment.
In 2017, the French group signed a ten-year distribution agreement with UniCredit upon the acquisition of the company Pioneer Investments.
Last month, UniCredit CEO Andrea Orcel said he wanted to “rebalance” the agreement with Amundi, believing that the French group “takes the lion’s share”.
Another complication is that Amundi’s main shareholder, Crédit Agricole, last year became the biggest investor in Banco BPM, a mid-sized Italian bank for which UniCredit was considering launching a takeover bid.
Philippe Brassac, chief executive of Crédit Agricole, told reporters this month that it was no secret that UniCredit was looking for ways to “optimize” the deal with Amundi.
According to sources, Andrea Orcel is not satisfied with the amount of Amundi funds that UniCredit must place with its clients under the agreement.
Amundi funds must represent 80% of all assets under management of UniCredit in Italy, but the penalties provided for by the contract in the event of non-compliance with this proportion only become punitive below a threshold. from 65% to 70%, two sources familiar with the matter said separately.
To increase UniCredit’s fee income, Andrea Orcel has set up an internal team that repackages funds provided by global players under the bank’s own “onemarkets” label.
At the same time, Italian asset manager Azimut is setting up an Irish business which will produce and sell funds to UniCredit clients and will eventually integrate the bank.
As of September 30, UniCredit had €134 billion in assets under management from fund and portfolio management.
Andrea Orcel has not ruled out ending the Amundi deal, but a person familiar with the matter told Reuters he would be happy to retain a partner that is among the top 10 global asset managers and promotes the bank’s sales network.
If the contract were to be extended, Andrea Orcel would like to agree on an improvement in conditions during 2024, the source added.
(Reporting by Valentina Za in Milan and Mathieu Rosemain in Paris, with contributions from Silvia Aloisi in Paris; Blandine Hénault and Kate Entringer for the French version)
Copyright © 2023 Thomson Reuters
Are you following this action?
Receive all the information on AMUNDI in real time: