ArmInfo. In 2025, we will see a peculiar mix of uncertainty and decent growth in the financial markets. This forecast was made by Frederic Pascal, Co-Head of Delegated Investment Solutions at Amundi, while presenting Amundi's asset allocation vision for 2025 at the Amundi Investment Outlook conference. "We like risk, but we plan to add some diversity to our portfolio," he said.
Amundi-Akba Fund Manager Anush Amirjanyan, in turn, notes that hedging will play a key role this year.
According to Pascal, there are also opportunities for risky assets at the moment. "We just need to remember that in terms of asset allocation, we need dynamic allocation. In addition, dynamic asset allocation should be positive in terms of risk, at least at the beginning of the year. We are seeing a new level of interest rates on fixed income, which opens up opportunities in the financial markets," he noted.
In any case, according to him, at the moment the market is , liquid, and the credit environment is favorable for companies. Accordingly, in order to make the most of the opportunities provided, one should be very cautious, but also proactive, since uncertainty, inflation, as well as the implementation of tariff policy can also affect these markets, the expert adds. 
Investment sentiment in emerging markets
Emerging market stocks delivered positive returns in 2024. However, according to Anush Amirjanyan, the recorded figures were slightly lower than those recorded in developed countries, which was a consequence of economic uncertainty, as well as the devaluation of the dollar, which complicated monetary policy and debt servicing in these countries. The decline in yields was also due to the high yields of US Treasury bonds, which were attractive to investors and led to an outflow of capital from emerging markets to developed countries.
In this direction, according to her, Amundi gives preference mainly to India and Latin American countries, and is cautious about Chinese stocks.
At the same time, according to Amirjanyan, emerging market bonds can be attractive to long-term investors. "Unlike developed markets, here we prefer high-yield bonds and mainly debt obligations issued in freely convertible currencies," she noted. Armenian realities
According to Anush Amirjanyan, in 2024, the cash and government bond markets of the Republic of Armenia provided double-digit returns of 10.6% and 15.3%, respectively.
As for the currency, despite the fact that the US dollar has strengthened against other world currencies (the dollar index has grown by about 8% in 2024), the opposite picture is recorded in Armenia: the dram has appreciated against the dollar by about 2.2%.
, she said. In this context, according to the expert, the devaluation of the dram against the dollar, observed in December 2024, will continue in 2025, while there are risks in the opposite direction - revaluation of the dram or a weaker devaluation, if economic activity is high or Russian migrants decide to settle in the RA on a permanent basis, thereby contributing to an increase in demand for the Armenian dram.
Interesting dynamics were observed in corporate bonds and shares. Compared to 2018, in 2024 the volume of both bonds and shares listed on the Armenia Stock Exchange increased by approximately 2-3 times. The growth was facilitated by both favorable market conditions and investments of pension funds. Thus, if until 2023 bonds were issued only by companies in the financial sector, then in 2024, 2 large issuers, Electric Networks of Armenia CJSC and Telecom Armenia OJSC (trademark: Team Telecom Armenia), entered the capital market, issuing bonds , in which pension funds managed by Amundi-Acba also invested.
About expectations and plans
expects double-digit growth in almost all markets: the US, UK, Europe and Japan. , - says Frederic Pascal.
, - adds the manager of the funds "Amundi-Akba".
According to her, Amundi values investments in the real sector of the economy, and in 2025 the company will focus its efforts both on investments in private sector bonds and on creating investment opportunities in large infrastructure projects.
In terms of macroeconomic and geopolitical risks, money funds, gold and inflation management strategies can become diversification tools>, - concludes the manager of the Amundi-Akba funds.
Amundi-ACBA Asset Management CJSC was established in 2013. The company manages three mandatory pension savings funds - Balanced, Conservative and Stable Income. The company's shareholders are the French Amundi (51%) - a leading European asset manager, which manages assets worth more than 2 trillion euros as of the end of June 2024, and Akba Bank (49%) - one of the largest commercial banks in Armenia.
By the end of 2024, the number of participants in the three Amundi-ACBA funds reached 510 thousand, the volume of managed assets - 567 billion drams or about 1.4 billion euros (annual growth is estimated at 30-40% on average). In 2024, the funds' yield was 8.1-10.3%, and the average annual yield since inception was about 7.2-7.8%.
