Fannie Wurtz from Amundi Asset Management, notes that a striking number of Asian investors are channeling their savings into European funds. The French executive is also optimistic about the sector’s long-term prospects. “Several megatrends are driving the European market.”
As one of the top executives at Amundi—Europe’s largest asset manager with EUR 2.24 trillion in assets under management—Wurtz is well-versed in all facets of the business. She is Head of Distribution & Wealth Division, ETF & Passive Business Lines and also Chair of Asia. The French giant is Europe’s largest ETF provider, with EUR 268 billion in ETF and related assets.
Table: assets under management Amundi
Despite the daily geopolitical and financial turbulence in the Trump II era, Wurtz remains optimistic about the future, she says in a conversation with Investment Officer in Brussels. “I’m an optimist by nature,” she laughs.
The major U.S. stock indices are off to a poor start in 2025. What happens if turmoil escalates and everyone rushes to exit the ETF market at the same time?
Fannie Wurtz: “Let’s not forget the basics. An ETF is a fund that tracks an index, which means that the liquidity of an ETF is tied to the liquidity of the underlying index. If that index is liquid, so is the ETF. But if the index is illiquid, it’s hard to make the ETF more liquid than its underlying benchmark. Think of a less common ETF that tracks emerging European economies, for example.”
“Additionally, we shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that ETFs, as exchange-traded funds, are supported by various liquidity mechanisms. As financial instruments, they’ve proven their resilience during multiple crises, including the COVID-19 pandemic. Another point: besides exchange trading, there’s also the less visible over-the-counter (OTC) trading of ETFs. So what you see on the exchange is only part of the total trading activity.”
How do you view the concentration risk surrounding the ‘Magnificent 7’ (Meta, Apple, Amazon, Alphabet, Tesla, Microsoft, and Nvidia)?
“After last year’s steep rise of the Magnificent 7 and American stocks in general, we’re now seeing growing interest from clients—both in Europe and Asia—in European equities. This is partly due to the attractive market valuations of European companies. So there are financial reasons to invest more in Europe. In fact, we already launched the ‘Ex Mega Cap USA’ ETF last year. It’s a tracker that excludes the major U.S. tech giants, specifically because some clients wanted to build portfolios that avoid the Magnificent 7 due to their oversized influence.”
Trump and Europe
The image of the U.S. in Europe has shifted in the short term, both as a geopolitical partner and as an investment destination. Could anti-American sentiment become a factor in the development of new funds?
“I wouldn’t say that. At the end of the day, Amundi is an asset manager that creates financial products tailored to the needs of our clients. Our role is to build vehicles that connect long-term savings of investors with companies and projects seeking funding. It’s not our place to express any kind of political opinion.”
To ask the question differently: Will ongoing geopolitical fragmentation eventually be reflected in the fund offering as well?
“Geographical granularity already exists in our product range, because clients have diverse needs. We offer more than 2,000 funds, some of which focus on a specific country or region. We have several ETFs that track national European indices, such as the CAC 40 in Paris or the DAX in Frankfurt. You know what’s interesting? It’s not just the French investing in the CAC 40 ETF—so are Mexicans and Japanese investors, even though it’s a purely French index.”
How do you view the European funds market over the long term?
“The European market is being driven by three macro trends. First, there’s the transfer of wealth to younger generations. Second, because of that, an aging population will lead to increased pension accumulation—from large institutional pension funds to workplace pensions and individual retirement savings.”
“The third megatrend is the digitization of saving, with technology playing a growing role—both for digital-native clients and behind the scenes at asset managers and distributors like banks. That’s why we recently acquired the German wealth-tech company Aixigo. It fits into our strategy of broadening services. Both asset managers and private banks need tech solutions to automate certain tasks, democratize financial products, and make them more personalized. This also allows us to ease the burden on financial advisors who sell funds.”
Many banks swear by open architecture, offering investment funds from various providers. Is it true that they’re working with fewer fund houses than before?
“Globally, we do see a trend toward partnering with a smaller number of fund providers. Banks still use open architecture, but the number of fund houses per distributor has dropped by 25 percent over the past seven years.”
“So they’re working with fewer players—but expecting more from each. They want holistic and tailor-made solutions, both in active and passive management, and in some cases including real assets. Banks also can ask us to support them with marketing and training for their branch network sales teams. For example, with Standard Chartered Bank, we developed a customized fund offering specifically for their retail markets in Asia and the Middle East.”
Luxembourg and Ireland
Earlier this year, Amundi moved several U.S.-focused ETF funds from Luxembourg to Ireland due to more favorable dividend tax treatment. How do you make such decisions?
“We’re a major asset manager with 418 billion euro in passive investments, and we use multiple fund structures—under French, Luxembourgish, or Irish law. The goal is to offer clients a comprehensive platform, as they each have their own allocation preferences, constraints, and cost considerations. So yes, we sometimes change a fund’s domicile based on client demand. A fund’s lifecycle evolves through dialogue with our clients.”
Europe has high hopes for Eltif 2.0, the revamped vehicle for infrastructure and other private investments. Do you share that optimism?
“It’s certainly an interesting investment vehicle. There’s a strong appetite for real assets. After a decade of low interest rates, both institutional and retail investors are looking for diversification and return through direct real economy investments. The second catalyst is the immense financing need for large-scale projects in Europe. As asset managers, we can bring both sides of the market together.”
“But that movement, involving retail investors, must be accompanied by financial education about the illiquid nature of private investments. An ETF, for example, can be sold at virtually any time during the day—but that’s not the case for a private assets vehicle, and financially, it wouldn’t be appropriate either. Investors must clearly understand the characteristics of the financial product they’re buying. That education requires a collective effort from the entire financial sector.”