New products of managed savings branded UniCredit and Azimut. Here comes the announcement of the signing by the bank led by Andrea Orcel and the group led by Pietro Giuliani of a letter of intent which defines the fundamental principles for the distribution in Italy of new asset management products.
Thanks to the partnership with Azimut, UniCredit will improve its asset management strategy, further expanding its activities along the value chain and strengthening its commitment to offer the best products to its 7 million customers in Italy.
In Piazza Affari the buy boom on Azimut stock, which jumps by more than 5%against the little moved trend of the quotations of Piazza Gae Aulenti.
Azimut and UniCredit: what the agreement provides
In detail, the agreement envisages that Azimut will independently set up and manage a management company in Ireland which will develop investment products to be distributed in Italy through the UniCredit network on a non-exclusive basis.
Il launch of funds for Italian clients is expected in the second half of 2023, subject to the necessary regulatory approvals.
The Azimut Group, reads the note, counts through his Global Asset Management Team, for over 10 years, out of over 170 professionals within its global network in 18 countries around the world, who manage approximately 250 investment strategies in public markets and who will support the development of the partnership with UniCredit in the first phase.
The agreements with UniCredit provide, after the fifth year, the right for UniCredit to exercise a Call Option for the acquisition of a stake in the Irish Management Company wholly owned by Azimut, or in advance under certain circumstances as normally expected in this type of transaction.
If the call option is exercised, UniCredit will be able to count on its own factory for high-value products which will join the onemarkets Fund platform and other asset management entities already part of the Group, selectively rebuilding components of the value chain ofasset management in Italy and in the Group.
UniCredit, Orcel and the phrase on M&A asset management
“I am delighted to see the partnership with Azimut come to fruition”he has declared Andrea Orcel, CEO of UniCredit. “This is an important step in our strategy to build and expand our partner ecosystem to better serve our customers’ needs. Not only will it allow us to expand and improve the offer to customers, but it also demonstrates our commitment to strengthen the asset management industry in Italy. As a bank, we constantly aim to generate added value for our stakeholders, while supporting the markets in which we operate – in this case the national asset management market”.
Orcel also pointed out that “M&A in asset management is not the right strategy. The goal is not to acquire extra masses outside the perimeter but to offer our customers the best product. I’m not interested in paying a lot for managed assets, I have to have the brains. Buying a large asset manager doesn’t make much sense to us’, added the number one bank in Piazza Gae Aulenti.
Andrea Orcel gave then an indication of when the impact of the partnership with Azimut will be seen on the bank’s accounts.
For his part Pietro Giuliani, President of Azimut, he expressed himself thus:
“I have known Andrea Orcel for almost 20 years when in 2004 he led the listing of Azimut on the Stock Exchange as Merrill Lynch. With this operation he has shown that he is quicker than others in realizing the potential of the partnership with Azimut as the only Italian asset manager to be present throughout the world with a deep understanding of the needs of Italian and European clients. Azimuth that he reached today a customer base of around 50% outside Italy is willing to increase the weight of Italy/Europe, as long as a national champion in asset management comes to light”.