Natixis Global Asset Management has acquired a majority stake in Ossiam, an asset management start-up which will specialise in exchange traded funds, once the relevant agreement is obtained from the Autorite des Marches Financiers.
Based in Paris, Ossiam will be the first ETF start-up in Europe focused on providing a range of specialty ETFs based on quantitative and fundamental data.
Ossiam’s four directors, including chief executive Bruno Poulin, previously deputy chief investment officer and head of quantitative research at Systeia Capital Management, and deputy chief executive Antoine Moreau, formerly global head of fund derivatives and exotic equity derivatives trading at Calyon, will retain partial ownership.
Ossiam plans to launch its first ETFs in early 2011 in Europe. These products will be available to clients either through French funds, a Luxembourg Sicav structure or via funds tracking customised indices tailored for specific institutional client needs.
"In Europe, the ETF market is rapidly growing; even if it is still lagging behind the US market, the gap is decreasing. We aim at developing specialty ETFs as intelligent solutions for clients rather than plain-vanilla products that replicate market-cap weighted indices. NGAM’s investment in Ossiam recognises the importance of specialty ETFs as an additional source of diversification for our clients. It is also a significant diversification of NGAM’s successful multi-boutique structure," says Pierre Servant, chief executive of Natixis Global Asset Management.
"We are delighted to be backed by a company with the scale of NGAM, one of the largest asset managers in the world, and to be supported by their global distribution network," adds Poulin. "We have ambitious growth plans for the company both in terms of market reach and range of products and we believe our partnership with NGAM will allow us to achieve those plans."
