Corporate news

AXA IM aims to drive its future development through two key strategic business units to bring enhanced value to clients and boost commercial momentum

10 March 2020

Creation of an Alternatives Investments business unit, “AXA IM Alts”, led by Isabelle Scemama
Strengthening of the Core Investments business unit, “AXA IM Core”, led by Hans Stoter
Both business units operating under the AXA IM brand and leveraging existing transversal global functions

“We strongly believe in leveraging both traditional and alternative asset classes to further provide investors with adequate responses to the current hunt for yield and to bring them long-term value. We want our organization to reflect this belief and that is why we aim to implement a simplified structure comprised of two key strategic business units. With more focus and proximity to our clients, we will become even more relevant to their evolving needs while accelerating the profitable growth of our business.”, said Gérald Harlin, Executive Chairman of AXA IM.

Responding to the need for yield in a competitive environment

In a persistent low rate environment, investors are increasing their appetite for alternative investments as well as innovative and outcome-oriented strategies, with ESG integration and impact becoming strong drivers of their choices. AXA IM will respond to these trends by leveraging decades of deep understanding of investors’ needs as well as combining recognized investment capabilities and ESG expertise for the benefit of retail and institutional clients. In addition, in order to enhance the quality and relevance of its interactions with clients and to respond to their rapidly evolving needs, AXA IM intends to bring together its client-facing and investment teams.

AXA IM aims to create AXA IM Alts, a new business unit encompassing the Real Assets, Structured Finance and Chorus¹ investment platforms, totalling €137 billion of assets under management² . AXA IM would leverage 30+ years of successful execution track record to better answer clients’ investment challenges, generating additional cross-sourcing opportunities and market insights.

A dedicated sales force would be created within AXA IM Alts leveraging both the current Real Assets sales force and a part of the existing AXA IM Client Group Institutional sales teams, bringing a much deeper understanding of the full breadth of alternatives investment solutions to clients.

AXA IM Core, which comprises the Fixed Income, Framlington Equities and Multi-Asset investment platforms, will be further strengthened by the addition of Rosenberg Equities, combining assets under management to a total of €536 billion³ . The Rosenberg team has built an industry-leading data platform and has deployed advanced data science approaches, thus bringing important value to AXA IM Core. As is the case with other AXA IM strategies, Rosenberg Equities has fully integrated ESG into its offering. AXA IM Core will thereby continue its journey to increasing collaboration and cross-fertilization, creating value for clients and AXA IM teams.

The existing AXA IM Client Group sales, marketing and product development teams would be integrated within AXA IM Core⁴ to increase proximity between portfolio managers and client-facing employees, thus enhancing AXA IM’s agility for the benefit of clients.

These changes are being discussed with employee representatives. They should be implemented in Q2 2020.

A simplified and more focused organisation

AXA IM’s goal is to make AXA IM Alts and AXA IM Core the backbone of its organization and to empower recognized leaders to drive their business focusing on growth and value creation for clients:

Isabelle Scemama, CEO of AXA IM Real Assets, would be appointed Global Head of AXA IM Alts in addition to her current role;
Hans Stoter, Global Head of Core Investments, would become Global Head of AXA IM Core.

Moreover, the following changes are announced:

Deborah Shire, Global Head of Structured Finance, would additionally become Deputy Head of AXA IM Alts in charge of Corporate Development and a member of the AXA IM Management Board, reporting to Isabelle Scemama.
Florence Dard, Global Head of Business Development for AXA IM Real Assets, would become Global Head of Client Group, Alts in addition to her current role and report to Isabelle Scemama.
Matthew Lovatt, Global Head of Framlington Equities, would become Global Head of Client Group, Core, reporting to Hans Stoter, and a member of the AXA IM Management Board.
After 18 years with Rosenberg and three years as CEO, Heidi Ridley has decided to pursue new professional opportunities focused on diversity and ESG topics. Heidi will step down on March 31, acting as a senior advisor until the end of April. Paul Flavier, currently Chief Risk Officer of AXA IM, will become Head of Rosenberg Equities from March 31, reporting to Hans Stoter. Paul will bring a strong investment background to Rosenberg and leverage the team’s recognised expertise for the benefit of our clients. Matthieu Tonneau, currently Head of Solutions Portfolio Management and LDI within AXA IM Core, will replace Paul Flavier as Chief Risk Officer.
Bettina Ducat, Global Head of Distribution Client Group, has made the choice to continue her career outside the AXA Group after spending 13 years with AXA IM. She will support the organisation until the end of June.
After spending eight years at AXA IM in different investment and commercial roles, Francisco Arcilla, Global Head of Institutional Client Group, has decided to leave AXA IM to pursue entrepreneurial ventures in Switzerland. Effective immediately, Matthew Lovatt becomes interim Global Head of Institutional Client Group in addition to his current role as Global Head of Framlington Equities.

“I am delighted to have onboard the leadership and recognised expertise of Isabelle, Hans, Deborah, Florence, Matthew, Paul and Matthieu to help me drive AXA IM and I look forward to our continued collaboration.”

“Heidi, Bettina and Francisco have all contributed immensely to AXA IM’s journey and I would like to warmly thank them. Their unwavering desire to put the client first, their drive and their ability to lead and inspire have truly made a difference. I wish them the very best in their future endeavours.”, said Gérald Harlin.

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Note to editors

Biographies

Florence Dard

Florence Dard has extensive experience of working within AXA Group, having spent more than 18 years in various positions including 13 years at AXA IM where she was Relationship Manager for AXA France, Head of Corporate Sales for pension and savings schemes and Institutional Sales Manager. In her most recent role, Florence led the French Sales, Marketing and Client Services teams and contributed to the strategic development of AXA IM across all client segments in France. Florence also held several positions, including Head of European Institutional Sales and Sovereign Wealth Funds, at Edmond de Rothschild AM between 2010 and 2015.

She has been Global Head of Business Development at AXA IM – Real Assets since 2018, responsible for the Business Development department, which brings together the Client Capital Group, Research & Strategy, Marketing & Communication, and Product Development teams.

Florence is a graduate of Paris Dauphine University, and also holds an MBA from the City University of New York.

Paul Flavier

Prior to joining AXA IM, Paul Flavier held a number of positions in investment banking at J.P. Morgan in London, notably in credit and equity derivatives trading & structuring.

He joined AXA IM in 2007 as a structurer in the Structured Finance department. He then held several senior roles in risk management including Head of Risk Management from 2010 to 2013 for Rosenberg Equities in the US and Global Head of Senior Expertise Risk Managers from 2013 to 2016. From 2016 until 2020, Paul held the position of Chief Risk Officer for AXA IM Group.

Paul holds a degree in Economics from Sciences Po Paris and a degree in Finance from HEC Paris.

Matthew Lovatt

Matthew Lovatt started his career at Henderson Investors where he was Head of Quantitative Research. Before joining Framlington Equities in 2004, Matthew was the CEO of Quaestor Investment Management.

At Framlington Equities, Matthew held the position of Director of Equities where he led Business and Product Development, founding the “Evolving Economy” investment approach, and helped shape AXA IM Framlington Equities investment process. In June 2018, he became the Global Head of Framlington Equities leading the AXA IM Framlington Equities global business with offices in London, Paris and Hong Kong. He will now additionally take the position of interim Global Head of Institutional Client Group.

Matthew holds a BSc (Hons) degree in Economics and Statistics from Bristol University.

Isabelle Scemama

Isabelle Scemama started her career in 1989 at Paribas in the large cap corporate financing department, before joining the real estate financing department in 1995. In 2001, she joined AXA IM Real Assets to head real estate fund structuring and financing. In 2005, she launched Europe’s pioneering, non-bank CRE lending platform which has developed into one of the most important platforms in Europe. In 2013, she was appointed to launch the Infrastructure lending platform, and was most recently responsible for the Funds Group, leading notably the product offering and the launch of the new real assets core funds range. She was appointed Chief Executive Officer of AXA IM Real Assets in February 2017.

Isabelle Scemama graduated from IEP Paris (Sciences Po) with a degree in Political Science.

Deborah Shire

Deborah Shire joined the AXA Group in 1996 in the corporate finance department. She then joined AXA IM in 1998 as Quantitative Portfolio Manager, where she worked to establish AXA IM’s Structured Finance Division as a founding member of the team in 2000. She then became the Head of Structured Finance Engineering team. In 2007, she became Deputy Head of Structured Finance, heading up the Business Development teams. From 2011 to 2014, she was Global Head of Business Development at AXA Real Estate, Member of the Management Board of AXA Real Estate, in charge of Corporate Finance, Investor Relations, and Marketing & Communications. She was then appointed Head of Structured Finance in 2014.

Deborah is a graduate from SUPAERO (Ecole Nationale Supérieure de l'Aéronautique et de l'Espace) and holds a diploma of Financial Analyst from the SFAF (French Society of Financial Analysts).

Hans Stoter

Hans Stoter started his career at Nomura Bank and Philips Electronics, before joining ING Investment Management in 1998 as portfolio manager Investment Grade Credits. He then held various portfolio manager, team manager and team oversight positions in a broad range of fixed income asset classes. In 2011 he was appointed Deputy Chief Investment Officer, and in 2013 Chief Investment Officer and Board member of ING Investment Management (later re-branded to NN Investment Partners).

Hans joined AXA IM in June 2018 as Global Head of Fixed Income & (interim) Global Head of Multi Asset Client Solutions. In January 2019 he was promoted to Global Head of Core Investments, which combines the Fixed Income, Multi-Asset and Framlington Equities investment activities.

Hans holds Masters degrees in Business Economics and Financial Analysis, both from the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam.

Matthieu Tonneau

Matthieu Tonneau worked as a consultant before joining AXA IM in 2006 as a portfolio manager in the index and quantitative management team. He became responsible of the team in 2007 and then led the repositioning of the team towards the management of customized solutions for institutional investors, mainly the companies of the AXA Group and pension funds. Matthieu has been in charge of the Solution Portfolio Management team since 2012.

Matthieu graduated in finance from Paris-Dauphine.

About AXA IM Alts

AXA IM Alts would be one of the global leaders in alternative investments with €137 billion of assets under management as of end 2019, across real estate, infrastructure, private debt, structured finance and hedge funds. AXA IM Alts would employ over 700 people located in 15 offices around the world and serve the needs of more than 300 clients from Europe, North America, Asia Pacific and Middle East.

About AXA IM Core

AXA IM Core would be one of the global leaders in Responsible investments with €536 billion of assets under management as of end 2019 across Fixed Income, Multi-Asset and Equity strategies, of which 82% are fully ESG-integrated. It would bring together over 600 people located in 12 offices around the world and serve the needs of more than 2,400 clients in Europe, Asia Pacific, the Middle East and the Americas.

About AXA Investment Managers

AXA Investment Managers (AXA IM) is an active, long-term, global, multi-asset investor. We work with clients today to provide the solutions they need to help build a better tomorrow for their investments, while creating a positive change for the world in which we all live. With approximately €801 billion in assets under management as at end of December 2019, AXA IM employs over 2,360 employees around the world and operates out of 28 offices across 20 countries. AXA IM is part of the AXA Group, a world leader in financial protection and wealth management.