Amundi-Acba Asset Management success story: assets managed by the fund reached 517 billion drams in 10 years

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YEREVAN, September 24. /ARKA/. Amundi-Acba Asset Management's operations in Armenia since its inception here ten years ago demonstrate success on the way of establishing Armenia's mandatory funded pension system, Executive Director of Amundi-Acba Asset Management Jean Mazedjian told a news conference on Tuesday. The company manages three pension funds -Amcon, Ambal, and Amfix.br/pp “Throughout these ten years, Amundi-Acba has overcome numerous challenges in promoting the transparency and development of Armenia’s asset management industry. The company has also made significant efforts to introduce tools that contribute to the management of foreign exchange risks. Additionally, Amundi-Acba adopted globally recognized best practices in asset management, leveraging the extensive analytical resources of the French Amundi to assess local markets and make secure investments,' Jean Mazedjian said./pp img width=669 alt=Амунди-Акба, Мазеджян src=/upload/medialibrary/02b/02b95963ce4d6015b6268b1368cdff49.jpg height=445 title=Амунди-Акба, Мазеджянbr/pp 'As we move to the next decade, Amundi-Acba will continue to contribute to the development of the capital market by promoting new financial opportunities and investment instruments for the benefit of pension funds under its management and the participants. All of this will definitely contribute to the growth of economic activity,' he added./pp bAchievements of 10 years/b/pp

According to Deputy Executive Director of Amundi-Acba Hrayr Aslanyan, some 65% ofnbsp;517 billion AMD isnbsp;invested in Armenia while the rest is diversified globally. Amundi-Acba made its first investment on March 11, 2014, when the Net Asset Value (NAV) per share for all three funds was set atnbsp;1,000 AMD. A decade later, this has increased reaching betweennbsp;2,081 AMD and 2,204 AMD, depending on the fund, which corresponds to an average annual return of 7.2-7.8% since inception./pp “All three funds managed by Amundi-Acba grew by AMD 100 billion in the first 8 months of the current year, of which the income from the beginning of the year alone amounted to AMD 34 billion, while AMD 66 billion were accumulative allocations. The yield for January-August reached 8.4%,” he said./pp img width=669 alt=Амунди-Акба, Асланян src=/upload/medialibrary/a73/a739dae9429f1f1dcb4008dc338f8a1b.jpg height=445 title=Амунди-Акба, Асланянbr/pp

Aslanyan noted that in the initial stage of operations in 2014-2016, investments were mainly concentrated in the financial sector and the company invested in the non-financial sector for the first time in 2019./pp

The Deputy Executive Director said that in 2020 for the first time the funds were invested in “EU-Armenia” SME fund, which allowed Amundi-Acba to make indirect investment in the non-financial segment of Armenia, and today such investments have been made in 9 companies of non-financial sector./pp

According to him, in 2022, for the first time in the history of pension fund management, Amundi-Acba introduced a hedging instrument to protect its foreign investments from the revaluation of the national currency./pp “In the same year, we concluded a Memorandum of Cooperation with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to combine efforts in making investments in infrastructure projects in Armenia. This requires certain legislative changes, but we hope that they will be implemented in the near future and we will start considering investments in Armenian infrastructures,” Aslanyan said./pp

He also recalled that in 2023, Amundi-Acba made its first direct investment in the public shares of Team Telecom Armenia, thus enabling the participants of the funds to indirectly become shareholders of this company./pp

According to Aslanyan, in January 2024, a cross-currency repo deal was concluded with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) - the Bank was provided with resources, which it, in turn, was to use to finance the real sector of the economy./pp

In August of the same year, Amundi-Acba purchased for the first time green bonds of the Electric Networks of Armenia Company./pp

He attached importance to the fact that the national currency, which had already found its place on the international map of derivatives and other money market instruments, figured in all the above transactions./pp “The activity we see from potential issuers in Armenia inspires hope that after a short time our funds will be even more diversified in Armenia,” he said./pp bKey Features of the Amundi-Acba Academy:/b/pp

In alignment with its commitment to promoting financial literacy and professional growth in Armenia, Amundi-Acba has launched thenbsp;Amundi-Acba Academy, Zarine Yeghiazaryan, responsible for marketing communications, said./pp

She said this initiative, adapted from the French Amundi Academy, notably best practices from European countries, aims to provide universities and students with the knowledge and skills necessary for professional development./pp img width=669 alt=Амунди-Акба, Егиазарян src=/upload/medialibrary/0b2/0b2859eec07d230a241af5da83f73bf0.jpg height=445 title=Амунди-Акба, Егиазарянbr/pp

The Amundi-Acba Academy will offer a comprehensive range of educational online training/modules tailored to various audiences interested in finances, particularly in asset management and investment/pp

Four Directions of Learning:nbsp;The Academy will cover fundamental, as well as topics for experts, provide specialized trainings in CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst), and ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) principles./pp

Free Access to Local Students:nbsp;It is committed to enhance accessibility, and local students will have free access to the courses and the opportunity to participate in the Academy programs./pp

Collaborative Partnerships:nbsp;Amundi-Acba will sign Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) and partnership agreements with Armenian universities, allowing them to have access to these valuable training modules./pp

Localized Research center:nbsp;In addition to the Academy, Amundi-Acba will localize and release articles in Armenian from the Amundi Investment Institute on a monthly basis, covering topics such as geopolitics, macroeconomics and financial markets. These resources will be available to everyone on our website./pp

The launch of the Amundi-Acba Academy reflects our mission to empower students and individuals through education and contribute to the overall improvement of the financial ecosystem in Armenia. We believe that informed investors contribute to a more robust and transparent financial landscape./pp bAbout Amundi-Acba Asset Management/b/pp

Amundi-Acba Asset Management was founded in 2013. The company manages three mandatory pension funds having more than 517 billion assets under its management as of August 30th, 2024./pp

The company's shareholders are the French Amundi, the leading European Asset Manager with more than 2 trillion Euros in assets under management as of June 30th, 2024 and Acba Bank, one of the largest financial institutions in Armenia, represented throughout the country with 65 branches.-0-/pp nbsp;/p