PARIS: Gilles Glicenstein, chief executive of BNP Paribas Asset Management, said that hedge funds are forcing him to offer more specialist investments and consider acquisitions in emerging markets and the United States.
Glicenstein, who oversees €326 billion, or $428 billion, of assets, also wants to hire more managers who can emulate the mathematical models for investing used by hedge funds, which have taken in $1.4 trillion of client assets globally.
“What we want to do is transform our asset management operation into a much more technical, capital market type business,” Glicenstein said during a recent interview. The BNP fund unit is one of the biggest investment managers in France.
Traditional mutual fund and pension managers face intensifying pressure from hedge funds that are luring clients by aiming to make money even when markets fall.
Companies like F&C Asset Management and Schroders have suffered outflows, while Man Group, the world’s largest publicly traded hedge fund manager, said last month that new client money pushed assets above $60 billion for the first time.
