Fund Management relying on recognised research

In order to achieve consistent performance, Groupama Asset Management's teams implement responsible investment practices that integrate recognised research capabilities in macroeconomic, financial and extra-financial analysis as well as financial engineering.
The research teams constitute one third of the teams dedicated to asset management and their assessments are widely circulated throughout the whole company.

Creative and independent fund management teams

Crossover and exchanges among the teams, present for many years, are ongoing. Fund managers compare their ideas to topics identified by the markets, to build portfolios that meet clients’ expectations.The fund managers are supported by these research capabilities and compare the results against prevailing ideas in the markets. This ongoing comparison gives rise to the investment ideas that can be found in the portfolios. The fund managers benefit from a high level of autonomy in building their portfolios which guarantees responsibility for performance.

Rigorous risk control

In accordance with the General Rules of the French Financial Markets Authority ( AMF) [ www.amf-france.org], Groupama Asset Management has put in place a control mechanism that covers all company risks. At the end of 2008, this mechanism was reinforced, restructured and divided between two distinct areas of activity, each chaired by a Head of Internal Compliance and Control (Compliance officer) and operating within a specific scope:

• Internal Compliance and Control/Permanent Control (including risk control)
• Internal Compliance and Control/Compliance (including ethics)

Their roles are broken down as follows:

This mechanism enables all the different types of business risks to be covered (legal, non-compliance, fraud, investment, operational, etc.). A map of the risks enables the company’s risk areas to be represented and prioritised in a hierarchy.

The two Heads of Internal Compliance and Control (RCCI – Responsable Conformité Contrôle Interne) are also supported by controls put in place by the Head of Information Systems Security (RSSI – Responsable de la Securité des Systèmes d’Information). Highest ratings and certifications.

Third-level operational audit

An internal audit department, reporting directly to the CEO, is responsible for regular audits within the company. It ensures the implementation of audits carried out by the operational departments and by the departments responsible for continuous auditing. The internal audit department is also responsible for evaluating the internal audit and compliance processes. It carries out specific tasks at the request of the CEO and according to a programme approved by the Audit Committee.

Internal audit reporters

The internal audit department is supported by a network of internal audit reporters (CCI – Correspondants de Contrôle Interne), made up of 23 employees distributed among Groupama AM’s various departments. The CCIs are responsible for facilitating the smooth running and effective and continuous implementation of the internal audit culture within their departments. Being at the heart of the businesses, it is the CCIs who are in the best position to know the risks associated with their activities; they ensure the implementation of procedures, 1^st-level audits and recommendations issued as a result of other audits or incidents.

Tools for a risk control system

In an environment of increased market and counterparty risks, Groupama AM seeks to strengthen its monitoring procedures so as to better manage the risks of the portfolios managed for its clients. The Risk Management team thus ensures that fund managers do not take any unknown or poorly assessed risk; for example, they make sure the investment limits are respected (management framework control) and, generally, the portfolio yield/risk indicators.
The various tools deployed are filters that ultimately permit a security system to be developed. Offering strong guarantees regarding security and transparency, Groupama AM always appears to be a benchmark asset management company, solid and reliable.

Highest ratings and certifications

The quality of its operational platform, the stability of its teams, its financial solidity and its capacity to respond to presentation requirements for GIPS performances....all of these assets have led Groupama Asset Management to achieve the highest ratings and certifications ( Fitch Ratings Note, GIPS certification, SAS 70 certification, CIES certification).