Credit Agricole Asset Management in Australia is about to lose its representative office status by receiving its own AFSL.
Credit Agricole Asset Management's (CAAM) local operating arm is about to receive its own Australian financial services license (AFSL) as it begins its push into the retail market.
Until this time the global manager had been trading in this market as a representative of its Hong Kong office.
No having its own AFSL has not impacted CAAM's Australian operation to date as most of its focus has been on institutional investors, according to country head for Australia and New Zealand Richard Borysiewicz.
"One of the messages to market about having our own license is intent and commitment to this market," he said.
"We're saying to the market we've been here only a short time and we've enjoyed the success and we're ready for our stage. We're here to stay and we're here to be more than just a little representative office."
CAAM currently has four funds on offer in the domestic investment market consisting of an absolute return fund, a global bond fund, a diversified fund, and a global emerging markets fund.
In conjunction to receiving its own AFSL, CAAM is also in the process of having all four funds rated to allow their inclusion on various platforms for the retail market.
"We don't want to be on too many platforms because we won't be able to service it.I think three or four is the right number," Borysiewicz said.
To boost its distribution into the retail market CAMM is also looking at the inclusion of its funds on a few dealer group approved product list. Again this will be limited to a specific selection deemed a "good fit".
"It's not size of group or number of planners or assets under advice, I think it's the quality of the planner that sits in the group and the sort of portfolios they are constructing that will make the difference," Borysiewicz said.
In Part 2 of our exclusive series, we ask leading names to nominate their best investments, the most effective industry group and the importance of platforms.
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