The French asset manager’s annual results for 2017 revealed AUM jumped from €717bn in 2016 to €746bn in 2017.
Underlying earnings at the firm grew by 14% to €257bn and. Revenue was €1.28bn for the year, up 6% compared with 2016.
The firm said growth was boosted by institutional demand for alternatives, specialist fixed income and multi-asset, while wholesale clients showed a “significant appetite” for its thematic equity capabilities.
This includes two strategies launched during the year by Axa IM subsidiary Framlington Equities’, one focusing on Robotech, which attracted €3.86bn, and the other looking at the ‘Connected Consumer’.
Third-party net new money inflows reached €9.3bn, but total NNM inflows declined year-on-year from €56.4bn to €7.9bn.
Axa IM said this was mainly owing to a decline in inflows from its JVs, driven in part by several products reaching maturity and not being replaced due to regulatory requirements relating to its Chinese JV.
It stressed, however, that this is a “low margin business so the outflows have had a very limited financial impact”.
Elsewhere, the firm outlined several areas it will expand this year, including developing its fixed income range to offer total return credit products and growing the buy-and-maintain expertise as an alternative to passive. It will also bolster its alternatives offering, including structured finance and real assets.
Andrea Rossi, chief executive of Axa IM, said: “2017 was a particularly strong year for us in terms of successes for our institutional business, leveraging our close relationship and the work we do for the Axa group, while we also made advances in the retail space.
“In 2018, we will continue to focus on our strengths to accelerate our development through continued product innovation to match the evolving needs of our clients. Our expertise and capabilities as an active manager provide us with a crucial advantage in navigating today’s challenging markets and capturing the evolving opportunities driven by global megatrends.”
