Groupama (Groupe des Assurances Mutuelles Agricoles), the French mutual insurance, banking and financial services group, has launched three structured products linked to the Eurostoxx 50 in France via its Gan Patrimoine subsidiary. Porphyre Mai 2016, Ananké Mai 2016 (both listed on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange) and Defineo Mai 2016 (listed at Euronext) each have a term of eight-years and are eligible to the French retail investor in the shape of unit-linked multivehicle life insurance or investment contracts.
"Our products are mainly linked to the Eurostoxx 50 to remain as simple as possible for our retail clients," said Maël Simon (pictured), head of structured products and unit-linked offer at Groupama.
Structured products are important to Groupama since they are very much appreciated by the company's customers, according to Simon. "[Groupama] sells on average €800m worth of structured products annually," he said. "Due to the readability of the formulas investors know in advance what the conditions are of realising capital gains. At the same time they can see whether or not they are benefiting from any protection of the nominal invested. Those are the key elements," said Simon. "Our customers have therefore the opportunity to assess the risk level of the product through the level of maximum conditional capital gain displayed."
For the issuance of Ananké Mai 2016 Groupama collaborated with SG Issuer, while Natixis and Credit Suisse were the counterparties for Porphyre Mai 2016 and Defineo Mai 2016, respectively. "We may work with a broad range of counterparties, including international investment banks," said Simon. "This allows us to benefit from their specific expertise, and also from optimised issuance conditions obtained through transparent tender procedures."
The three EMTN's offer the possibility of early redemption providing the index is at or above its strike level on each anniversary, while simultaneously offering protection against a limited fall in the index. Autocallable structures, combined with soft protection of the capital invested, are a main characteristic of the French market for their ability to exploit market rises while limiting their losses. Out of a total of 185 structured products which have strike dates in 2016 to date, 165 feature the knock-out payoff.
SRP's French database lists 53 structured products from Groupama, dating back to April 2000. Of these, 38 structures, which were issued in collaboration with BNP Paribas, Credit Suisse, Groupama Asset Management, Natixis and Societe Generale, amongst others, are still live.
Groupama is ranked the number eight insurance company in France (FFSA-Gema, June 2012). The company has a presence in 11 countries in Europe, Asia and Africa (Italy, Portugal, Turkey, Greece, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, Bulgaria, China, Vietnam and Tunisia). Last month the group reported an increase in net income of 43% to €368m for the fiscal year 2015. At the end of December 2015, Groupama's combined premium income stood at €13.7bn, a 0.9% increase on a like-for-like basis.
Click the link to view the Groupama full year results for 2015.
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