AXA IM announces details of new investment team focused on liquid absolute return strategies

Since then AXA IM Chorus has made a number of key strategic hires as part of ongoing efforts to create an exciting and differentiated proposition for clients interested in liquid absolute return strategies. The hires include: Jérôme Brochard and Hector Chan as co-CIOs, Augustin Landier as Head of Research, Ahcène Garèche as Senior Quant Researcher and Philippe Muller as Chief Technology Development Officer. AXA IM Chorus now has a team of 16 professionals based in Hong Kong and will be looking to grow this over the coming months. This new team is fully integrated with the rest of AXA IM, benefitting from AXA IM’s global scale and resources as well as controls and processes.

Pierre-Emmanuel Juillard, Managing Director of AXA IM Chorus, commented: “We are excited by the talent AXA IM Chorus has been able to attract as the quality of our team is central to the offering we are building for clients. While liquid absolute return strategies are not new, we see demand for them increasing and believe that our approach, powered by a team of some of the brightest and best from the buy and sell side, as well as research and technology, will offer clients an exciting and differentiated proposition.”

Jérôme Brochard joins AXA IM from Goldman Sachs where he worked as a Managing Director in the Equities division, heading the Systematic Trading Strategies team. Prior to joining Goldman Sachs, Jérôme was a co-founder of Nexgen Group, a capital markets trading company now owned by Natixis. He started his career at AXA.

Hector Chan also joins from Goldman Sachs where he was a Managing Director and Head of Asia Pacific FICC Structuring. Before his move to Goldman Sachs, Hector was responsible for the Asia Pacific ex-Japan Interest Rate and Foreign Exchange Structuring team at BNP Paribas.

Augustin Landier is a visiting professor of Finance at Harvard Business School and will continue this role alongside his new position as Head of Research at AXA IM Chorus. During his career, he taught at New York University and the University of Chicago, and was a Resident Scholar at the International Monetary Fund.

Philippe Muller joins from the adtech company Criteo where he was a Senior Engineering Lead. Philippe has strong experience in software development and infrastructure, and held several positions, including Systems Engineer and Software Engineer at Capital Fund Management, in the past.

Ahcène Garèche joins from Marshall Wace where he was a Quantitative Researcher for the hedge fund.

Pierre-Emmanuel Juillard, added: “With more and more data becoming available on economic activity, markets and individual companies, we are looking to identify and capture tradable premia ‘engines’ to create portfolios with a low correlation to the overall market and an attractive risk-return profile.”

AXA IM Chorus will focus on building liquid absolute return strategies made up of a range of carefully selected and combined premia ‘engines’. The objective is to create a diversified portfolio with low correlation to traditional asset classes. By combining different premia by risk rather than asset class profile, AXA IM Chorus has the potential to achieve strong returns with moderate volatility.

Pierre-Emmanuel Juillard, added: “Our strategy will focus on using our clients’ risk budget sensibly to generate returns while offering them stability. This is particularly important now in the context of heightened uncertainty and volatility in global financial markets. We want to provide clients with an attractive solution to the risk-return trade-off, without losing liquidity and scalability.”

Subject to the necessary regulatory approvals, AXA IM Chorus aims to start marketing liquid absolute return strategies to clients in 2017.

About Jérôme Brochard

Jérôme Brochard is co-CIO of AXA IM Chorus. Jérôme joined the firm in June 2016 from Goldman Sachs where he was a Managing Director in the Equities Division, heading the Systematic Trading Strategies team. Prior to this, Jérôme was a Founder of Nexgen Group (now a subsidiary of Natixis) helping to build the Corporate Derivatives and Reinsurance business activities in Europe from 2001 to 2005. He started his career in 1999 as an underwriter in AXA Re Paris.
Jérôme graduated from Ecole Polytechnique in France and holds an MSc eq. in Economics, Finance and Statistics from ENSAE in Paris. He is a member of the French Institute of Actuaries.

About Hector Chan

Hector Chan is co-CIO of AXA IM Chorus. Hector joined AXA IM in April 2016. Prior to this, he worked at Goldman Sachs as a Managing Director and Head of Asia Pacific FICC Structuring between 2009 and 2015. He served on the company’s Asia Pacific Suitability Committee, Asia Pacific Diversity Committee and Asia Pacific Finance Committee. Hector was also on the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee of the Asia Securities and Financial Markets Association as well as on the Asia Pacific Steering Committee of the International Swaps and Derivatives Association.

Prior to that, Hector worked at BNP Paribas helping to build the rates, foreign exchange and credit structured business in India from 2003 to 2006 and in China from 2006 to 2007. He then assumed responsibility for the Asia Pacific ex-Japan Interest Rate and Foreign Exchange Structuring team.

Hector holds a Master’s degree in Finance and a DEA in Economics from Paris Dauphine University.

About Augustin Landier

Augustin Landier joined AXA IM in July 2016 as Head of Research at AXA IM Chorus. Augustin is also a Visiting Professor of Finance at Harvard Business School. Prior to joining AXA IM, Augustin was Senior Consultant at Capital Fund Management between 2012 and 2016, focusing on long-short equity strategies. Augustin taught Finance at New York University (2004-2009), at the University of Chicago (2002-2004) and was a Resident Scholar at the International Monetary Fund in 2009.

Augustin’s research is largely focused on behavioural finance, asset management and corporate finance, and his work has been published in leading scientific journals. In 2014, Augustin was awarded the ‘Best Young French Economist’ award.

Augustin holds a PhD in Economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

About Philippe Muller

Philippe Muller joined AXA IM in August 2016 as Chief Technology Development Officer (CTDO). Philippe joined from the adtech company Criteo where he was a Senior Engineering Lead from 2015, managing a team of 5 software engineers. Prior to this, Philippe held several positions at Capital Fund Management including as Systems Engineer and Software Engineer. Before that, Philippe worked as a Security & Systems Engineer for technological companies designing and building scalable and secure internet platforms.

Philippe holds a Master’s degree in Information Technology from the University of Lorraine.

About Ahcène Garèche

Ahcène Garèche joined AXA IM in July 2016 as a Senior Quant Researcher. He joined from Marshall Wace where he was a Quantitative Researcher since 2013.

Ahcène holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Ecole Normale Supérieure Cachan and a Master’s degree in Probability & Finance from Paris 6 University–Ecole Polytechnique.