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EuroBusiness Media (EBM): Did Flexible management fulfil all its promises in the 2011 crisis? The answer right now with you, Henri Chabadel, welcome. You are the Head of Sigma Investment Management at Groupama Asset Management. Your Groupama FP Flexible Allocation fund outperformed its counterparts in the 2011 crisis. How do you explain that?
Henri Chabadel: Yes it's true, 2011 was a difficult year - it was for all fund managers - but in fact we were able to deliver the performance we expected and that we had promised our customers. We protected the capital, the fund fell by less than 5% in 2011, and above all it preserved its ability to bounce back when the markets once again turned positive later in the year. This allowed us to stand out from our competitors, who generally, unfortunately, disappointed, as their performance was much less asymmetrical, they fell, like classic diversified funds, and bounced back like classic diversified funds. What helped us, clearly, was a robust process, a process that was built and tested during the 2008 crisis - and in many respects the 2011 crisis resembled what happened in 2008 - which means that we trust this process, we know how it reacts and we know how it works. It pushed us into taking a number of good decisions, into protecting the capital when there was a sharp increase in volatility, allowing us some leeway and to reinvest when conditions become favourable again, as was the case starting in October and November of last year.
EBM: What enthusiasm do customers currently show for this type of fund management? What kind of customers are interested and why?
Henri Chabadel: The enthusiasm is real. It has been strong since 2008 which really marked a watershed in the markets since investors, both individuals and institutions, realised that the world had changed, that you needed to be responsive, you needed to be opportunistic and that you needed to be able to respond well during periods of strong turbulence in the markets to be able to conserve the assets. So it is a market with inflows, strong inflows in 2009 and with slight outflows in 2010, and once again with inflows in 2011 and 2012. This is a market that is differentiating itself strongly from the investment outflows of the rest of traditional fund management and it's really a sign that today's investors, both individuals and institutions, are seeking from asset management companies solutions that enable them to withstand market conditions as difficult as these.
EBM: Your belief at Groupama Asset Management is that we will still remain in turbulent markets for a long time. What are the consequences for asset management in general and Flexible Management in particular?
Henri Chabadel: Yes, this is our firm belief. Unfortunately the markets have been turbulent since mid-2007 and our analysis is that they will remain so for several years to come. This is also one of the reasons why we believe that Flexible Management is not a passing fad and that it's something that will meet for a long time yet a need investors have and that will progressively become still stronger. Why do we think this is a structural change? Quite simply because we are dealing with a massive debt that must be paid off. And unfortunately, there is no simple way of reducing this debt, except by reviewing structures and business models, whether at the level of the state, the individual or the company. And all this will take time and time will be needed before the markets have the prospect of successfully overcoming this crisis. Throughout this period, there will be strong downward periods and shocks in response to periods of uncertainty, followed by periods of bounce back when the uncertainties will be dissipated, and we'll have to manage this volatility.
EBM: Indeed, what is the position of your portfolio today in a market environment that remains uncertain?
Henri Chabadel: We clearly expect a continuation of the risk on/risk off mode, i.e. upward periods interspersed with periods of quite violent downturns and accordingly, we have positioned the portfolio mainly on the assets that we consider are the more robust and better able to withstand this volatility, namely essentially on credit, on corporate bonds and also on government bonds provided these are bonds from emerging countries as we currently have greater confidence in the balance sheets of emerging countries than the balance sheets of the developed countries. We also have lots of exposure to so-called "safe havens" assets, the so-called "insurance policy" assets, those which will allow us to earn money and protect the fund's performance in the event of a strong market shock, I'm thinking, in particular, about volatility and I'm also thinking of certain countries' bonds still considered as safe, such as Germany or the United States. And finally, of course, the flip side is that we have relatively few investments in stocks and we are almost totally absent today from the euro zone which is at the epicentre of the crisis.
EBM: Henri Chabadel, Director of Gestions Sigma and Head of Gestions Flexibles at Groupama Asset Management, thank you.
Henri Chabadel: Thank you.
