France's Amundi assets rise to 1.65 trillion euros in 2019

PARIS (Reuters) - French asset manager Amundi <AMUN.PA> reported a 36.5% rise in fourth-quarter profit, as risk aversion on financial markets gradually returned to normal and 76.8 billion euros of new investor cash rolled into its funds.

Since its initial public offering in 2015, Amundi has been on an expansion spree, effectively buying Unicredit's Pioneer and Sabadell's asset management business while also stepping up joint ventures in countries like China or India.

The record inflows in the fourth quarter include 59.6 billion euros received thanks to a new "institutional mandate (pension fund)" at its Indian joint venture.

Amundi added that excluding joint ventures, a recovery in net inflows from retail clients was confirmed in the fourth quarter after a weak start to the year.

Amundi's fourth-quarter net income rose to 262 million euros, as its revenues stemming from management and performance fees increased by 16% to 719 million euros.

It posted a 16% rise in assets under management to 1.65 trillion euros as of end-2019.

(Reporting by Maya Nikolaeva; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)