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Natixis Jumps Aboard Thematic Investment Train

Tom Burroughes

2 April 2019

, part of French banking group BPCE, has created Thematics Asset Management which, as its name suggests, will tape global money-making themes such as safety, water, artificial intelligence and robotics. The organisation, based in Paris, starts in the second quarter of this year.

The new entity will be led by Karen Kharmandarian, chairman and chief investment officer, and Mohammed Amor, managing partner and head of development. The investment team will also include Arnaud Bisschop, Frédéric Dupraz and Nolan Hoffmeyer, who joined Natixis Investment Managers in November 2018, and Simon Gottelier who joins as a senior portfolio manager for the water strategy.

Thematic investment tries to capture large trends – such as the need to improve water supplies, physical security or harness robotics – and avoid some of the distortions that arise when securities are chosen because they sit on a particular country’s stock market, for example. Thematic investment also, to some extent, captures investment enthusiasm for environmental, social and governance-targeted (ESG) investment.

Before joining Natixis Investment Managers, the team building the new group launched a range of thematic funds and were involved in the management of more than $21 billion of assets.