HSBC fund launch, Natixis reshuffle: French news roundup

Three senior appointments and an inflation-linked bond fund launch figure in today's news from the French fund management industry.

French boutique Quilvest Gestion has appointed Valérie Maillard as its new head of equity management. She previously worked for Neuflize OBC Asset Management in its equity management team.

Leading investment group Natixis AM has announced a reshuffle of its senior management team. Former deputy head of responsible management Dominique Sabassier has taken on the reorganisation process and two people have been named in his stead; Ibrahim Kobar is the firm’s new head of rates while Emmanuel Bourdeix is the new head of equity management.

Finally, HSBC has announced the launch of a new bond fund which will aim to counter any inflation rises. The HSBC Duration Free Global Inflation fund, which will be managed by the firm’s quantitative bond team, has an OPCVM structure and aims to protect investors' bond portfolios from any interest rate hikes.

The investment strategy is designed to capture any over-performance of inflation-indexed bonds against nominal bonds during anticipated periods of rising inflation, while maintaining a close to nil exposure to interest rate variations.