BNP Paribas Wealth Management reinforces its investment strategy

BNP Paribas Wealth Management is strengthening its investment strategy resources in order to meet the growing demand from its Private Banking clientele for market intelligence.

Given the rapid and complex developments taking place in the financial marketplace, the ability to communicate a clear view of the markets is key for BNP Paribas Wealth Management to be able to provide clients with first-class advice on how to invest their assets.

In order to meet this need, BNP Paribas Wealth Management is able, when drawing up its investment strategy, to call on Group-wide expertise in various specialist fields – including asset management, investment banking and real estate – in addition to Wealth Management’s own global and local analysis capability.

The BNP Paribas Group’s international reach and structure are a major plus in achieving these objectives, as our investment strategists working at the various Wealth Management entities act in concert, pooling their local knowledge to draw up an investment strategy across all markets – the United States, Europe, Asia, plus emerging markets. BNP Paribas Wealth Management is thus well-placed to provide clients with local market intelligence coupled with a global view.

Florent Bronès, newly appointed Chief Investment Officer, is now tasked with the overall management of these resources. He is responsible for establishing a global investment strategy and drawing up recommendations on specific investment themes in concert with the international network of Chief Investment Advisors, which he coordinates.

For the year 2013, BNP Paribas Wealth Management will be focusing on ten investment themes based on three strategic objectives:

- The search for yield: given the current very low bond rates, investors may still, even while following a cautious, defensive strategy, find better yields in certain areas of the bond market such as emerging markets and ​ convertibles, via high-dividend equities, from alternative funds or from structured products.

- Opportunities offered by declining risk premiums: risk perceptions are expected to diminish in 2013, favouring investment in European equities and ‘value stocks’.

- Taking full advantage of a two-speed world: the mature and emerging economies will experience differing growth rates. In the more mature economies, opportunities will arise largely from companies starting to invest again and from businesses pursuing lower-price sales strategies; in the emerging economies, growth will be based on the emergence of the middle class and infrastructure development. Meanwhile energy efficiency is an area of high potential worldwide.

FLORENT BRONES - Chief Investment Officer, BNP Paribas Wealth Management

At the age of 54, Florent Bronès holds a PhD in International Finance Economics and has more than 28 years of experience in investment strategy, especially in the field of global Equities.

In 1996 Florent joined BNP Paribas Equities as Head of Investment Strategy. In 2003 he took charge of sell-side research at BNP Paribas Equities and Derivatives (EQD). Most of his time in this post was shared between drawing up investment strategy and meeting internal and external clients. From 2008 he managed the buy-side research department for Global Equities and Commodity Derivatives (GECD), focusing on investment strategy and financial markets.

In January 2013, Florent joined BNP Paribas Wealth Management, thus bringing his wide markets experience to the Group’s Private Banking clients.

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About BNP Paribas Wealth Management (www.wealthmanagement.bnpparibas.com)
​ BNP Paribas Wealth Management is the world’s 7th largest private bank, present in some 30 countries. Over 6,000 professionals, based in every major financial centre, provide a private investor clientele with solutions for optimising and managing their assets. The bank has €265 billion worth of assets under management (as at end September 2012).