An interview with Matthieu André, CEO of AXA IM Select
AXA IM Select is a specialist investment multi-manager, part of AXA Investment Managers. The firm offers unit-linked products and services for AXA and joint venture clients in more than 10 countries across Europe and Asia, as well as wealth management services in Belgium. It currently looks after €32bn on behalf of clients as at 31st March 2024.
The European caught up with Matthieu André, CEO of AXA IM Select, to discuss the firm’s recent journey and its continued client-centric focus, plus the firm’s strategy for the coming years.
The business recently joined AXA Investment Managers (AXA IM). Can you tell us a bit more about the move?
Matthieu André: In 2022, the decision was made to onboard Architas into AXA IM as a new business unit and rebrand to AXA IM Select. This formally completed at the beginning of 2024. Architas, as a specialist multi-manager, was part of the AXA Group but had previously operated as a separate business to AXA IM. This was a strategic decision to bring all investment capabilities under one roof in order to leverage the benefits that being part of a larger organisation can bring to our clients. It also enabled AXA IM Select to simplify our offering.
As a new business unit, we remain committed to focusing on our aim of delivering the best possible outcomes on behalf of our clients. We continue to have a dedicated distribution and offer team, as well as an operationally independent investment team, fund selection and management process. It was a huge task, with teams across the business pulling together to help us join the AXA IM family.
Can you explain the rationale as well as the benefits of the rebrand?
MA: The onboarding was done to consolidate all of AXA’s asset management capabilities under one roof, providing a more holistic offering for our clients. It was a good opportunity to think hard about the future business strategy, considering the benefits and opportunities that rebranding as AXA IM Select could bring for our clients.
By conducting a number of stakeholder interviews within the business and with key clients, as well as undertaking competitor research, we were able to gain a greater understanding of the current brand perceptions of both Architas and AXA IM. This was crucial for our business, as it highlighted key aspects of the Architas brand that we needed to retain, mainly around our retail focus and tone of voice. The research also clearly flagged that AXA was a brand our clients knew and trusted and so rebranding under AXA, together with the scale and resources of AXA IM, made the most commercial sense and would better serve our clients’ needs.
What are some of the broader client benefits of being a part of AXA IM?
MA: The new name, AXA IM Select, is a clear signal that we are part of the AXA IM ecosystem and able to benefit from the knowledge and expertise of our colleagues across the wider business, passing this on to our clients. This new business unit combines the previous Architas and AXA IM’s unit-linked (UL) teams, marking the start of a new chapter with the objective to simplify the offering for AXA entities and provide them with a one-stop shop for UL products and services.
It’s a great opportunity to further accelerate our position as AXA IM’s multi-manager and to grow discretionary wealth management services to our clients in Europe, especially in Belgium and France, but also in Asia, under the AXA IM brand. In addition, being under the AXA umbrella enables us to leverage the global presence and reputation of a worldwide leader in insurance and asset management, ensuring we continue to provide our clients with the best possible solutions.
What is your strategic focus for the next three years?
MA: Our vision is to support AXA IM in becoming a recognised investment manager for retail clients. We want to realise this through our AIM for 2026 plan; a strategy for the next three years which is poised to be forward-looking and impactful. In creating it, we have focused on key themes such as performance and growth, excellence, resilience, and responsibility. Aligning with AXA IM roadshows, from February this year, our management team travelled to various locations around the world to present the AXA IM strategy, including AXA IM Select’s, and engage with our international employee base. We listened to feedback ensuring we always kept our clients in mind when discussing how we will implement the strategy.
Our priority is to continue communicating with clients in a simple and clear way, ensuring we remain focused, transparent, confident and solution-oriented. We believe we can do this most effectively by leveraging our strengths, culture and common values as part of the AXA IM team.
You highlight a focus on retail clients. Please expand on this strategy, and what you mean by “retail” in this context.
MA: Our focus at AXA IM Select remains on retail clients with the aim of positioning ourselves as a leading asset manager in our target markets’ retail space, utilising our strong history in serving retail investors. A core aspect in ensuring we continue to meet that challenge involves delivering effective investor education, digestible investment views and engaging product storytelling.
By retail, we mean an approach which seeks to demystify the world of investing, helping our clients to better understand what we offer and how we operate, without reducing the necessary detail. In other words, it’s about increasing understanding through simple and clear language, not offering simplistic alternatives. Whether it’s achieving growth, generating an income or preserving wealth, we want to help our clients fulfil their investment aims.
Further information
select.axa-im.com
