Amundi’s CPR Asset Management (CPR AM) has launched ‘Smart Trends’, a fund that seeks to benefit from the long-term growth offered by thematic equities within a cautious and flexible multi-asset framework.
CPR AM will apply exclusion criteria to align the portfolio with a responsible investment strategy. The fund will be managed by Jean-Marie Debeaumarché and Mohamed Dohni, both global and multi-asset portfolio managers, in close collaboration with the thematic equity management team.
‘Smart Trends’ will have a fixed 35 per cent investment into in-house thematic funds, which represent the full spectrum of CRP AM’s investment themes including ageing populations, education, climate action, disruption and the food value chain. Every month the thematic equity team will select the best ideas for the coming months and will decide on the funds’ weighting.
The multi-asset team will routinely perform an analysis of the market and macroeconomic environment, and on that basis the fund will have the flexibility to modify the equity exposure up to a maximum of 35 per cent through overlay strategies in order to mitigate the portfolio’s risk level. The rest of the fund will be exposed to fixed income and cash.
The fund’s thematic approach concentrates on those long-term phenomena which offer higher sustainable growth profiles. CRP AM had identified four forces shaping the world as: demographic and social changes, economic shifts, technological advancements and environmental challenges.
Along with its risk-orientated approach and flexibility to navigate through market cycles, the fund has in place strong risk controls at multiple levels, combing long-term strategic exposure with short/medium term tactical exposure.
Sustainability is embedded in the fund as it is already the case for other thematic and multi-asset funds. ESG filters and SRI criteria ensure the fund offers investors as responsible investment strategy, by investing at least 50 per cent of its assets in vehicles that are deemed responsible.
Gilles Cutaya, Deputy CEO of CPR AM, says: “With ‘Smart Trends’ we are bringing together two areas of expertise that have been an integral part of CPR AM’s investment DNA: thematic equities and multi-asset. We will offer savers a solution that combines the long-term performance drivers of megatrends with a defensive profile. This fund is a perfect example of CPR AM’s complementary expertise in ESG, thematic equities and multi-asset investing.”
