Following the appointment as head of global markets, Asia-Pacific, on January 1, 2017, SRP spoke to Emmanuel Lefort about his new responsibilities and Natixis plans to bolster its presence and capitalise on its product development capabilities to increase its market share in the structured products market and beyond.
In his current role as head of global markets Asia-Pacific, Lefort will have responsibility for the bank’s operations across the region from Japan down to Australia. He replaces Serge Ekué who has been appointed senior country manager, UK and head of global markets, Europe, Middle East & Africa (Emea).
“Serge did a fantastic job in Asia, implementing the solutions-driven, client focused model and geography-specific distribution strategy that has underpinned the expansion of our capital markets activities in the region,” says Lefort, who has spent 16 years at Natixis in Europe (in Paris and the UK) through various positions in structured credit, and was made responsible for Natixis’ Global Structured Credit & Solutions (GSCS) business in 2014. “I see my new role as a tremendous opportunity to take the Apac platform to the next level. The platform has a very solid infrastructure and can be scaled up. We want to use it to bring different parts of our offering and functions together and offer the whole suite of solutions in one place.”
According to Lefort, this setup will enable Natixis to offer in Asia Pacific all the products it offers in other markets and jurisdictions, as well as local specific products.
“Compared to other regions, we see Apac as the region with more potential for growth, and having all the pieces of the puzzle provides us with a unique opportunity to expand our business and reach,” says Lefort. “We serve several distribution channels including institutional, private banks, and retail clients through local distributors.”
Natixis’ Global Markets offering is not limited to investment products as the bank has also “a very strong platform” to cover other investment needs such as hedging and financing, according to Lefort. “Our strategy is not about distributing products but about providing solutions to a wide range of clients through our own balance sheet or outside our balance sheet,” says Lefort. “One example of this is the implementation of our Global Structured Credit & Solutions (GSCS) division in Asia Pacific with a four-strong team which was launched about a year ago to target specialty lenders, ie. non-banking institutions that are providing credit in the retail segment that need financing solutions that can be sold as securitised products. We are also focusing on the financing of private equity funds in the region.”
The goal, says Lefort, is to continue building the bank’s platform across segments and be responsive to clients’ needs as well as leveraging on the areas where the bank is strong and can deliver value to clients whether it is via a structured product on the fixed income or the equity side, or a financing solution. “We are focused on key countries in Asia, notably Taiwan, South Korea, Japan and Australia, and are looking at expanding our Global Markets offering in others such as China and South East Asia,” says Lefort. “We have the structuring capabilities to leverage our offering and we also want to expand our network of asset managers, private equity and hedge funds.”
Equity derivatives, as one of the major components within Natixis’ global markets activities, will continue to play a key role in the bank’s expansion in the region, according to Lefort. “Our breakdown in the region is 70% fixed income 30% equity derivatives, similar to our competitors,” he says. “The difference with some of our competitors is that we are a bit behind on the coverage but with more growth potential in some countries.”
According to Lefort, Apac is a very competitive region but Natixis is well placed to leverage its offering and become a leading player. “We have made significant progress in South Korea as shown by the award we got last year, and we are making progress in other markets such as Japan, Taiwan and Singapore,” says Lefort.
The French bank is seeking to increase its profile after a period that forced many manufacturers to downside their operations and retreat from some markets. “Clients appreciate long-term commitment,” says Lefort. “Our plan is to continue to establish a strong long-lasting presence in the region. We are also increasing our regional headcount and are hiring locally to make sure we are in tune with the particularities and needs of each market, and that our workforce understands the local culture.”
To strengthen its footprint Natixis is building relationships with domestic distributors covering either the retail or the private banking/HNWI segments, and diversify its activities “so that we don’t concentrate all our efforts in one activity, and to react and respond to what clients demand as opposed to push products.”
“The recent opening of our Taipei Branch is another sign of our long term commitment to the region,” says Lefort.
The two key words around Natixis’ Apac expansion are client-centric (as opposed to product-centric), and innovation, according to Lefort. “We are here to serve our clients and to understand their needs so that we can respond accordingly by bringing innovative solutions that respond to their investment requirements,” says Lefort. “Diversification is also a key element of our offering and the way we balance our trading books.”
According to Lefort, being too much a product bank with the aim of pushing products to the market “can in some situations end up with one-way risk positions that can bring your business down as we have seen recently with some dealers”.
“Our sales teams are driven by client listening and solution finding as opposed to mimic or replicate the products offered by other banks,” says Lefort.
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