As of June 2015, Candriam – BIL Pension Fund is still the Luxembourg representative at AEIP (Association Européenne des Institutions Paritaires, or European Association of Paritarian Institutions), even after its former owner, leading Luxembourg bank Banque Internationale à Luxembourg (BIL) separated from Dexia group and was acquired by Precision Capital of Qatar and Candriam was sold in February 2014 to New York Life Insurance Company, the largest U.S. mutual life insurance company.
AEIP represents European paritarian institutions, i.e. social protection institutions co-managed by employers and trade unions, usually in the context of a collective agreement. AEIP members are non-for-profit and provide many types of benefits, including coordinated retirement schemes, occupational pension funds, unemployment benefits, etc. The association is a Brussels-based lobby and think-tank that promotes social security and protection and influences law making at the European level.
Whilst Dexia was not technically a non-profit organization, its joint ownership by interventionist Belgian and French states, the nature of key businesses in France and in Belgium – lending to local governments -, and its sometimes bombastic strategies led to huge losses in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis and to its eventual demise under heavy government intervention. Therefore, some joked that Dexia was a “no-profits-ever” organization, which qualified it for AEIP membership. Since its acquisition by Precision Capital and the appointment of new CEO Hugues Delcourt, formerly with ABN Amro, BIL is decidedly for-profit again and focusing on its traditional areas of strength, mainly private and corporate banking in select markets as well as consumer banking in Luxembourg.
As a pan-European asset management firm and the subsidiary of a U.S. mutual insurance company, Candriam brings an interesting perspective to AEIP’s debates – and in 2015 Candriam’s BIL CEO Renato Guerriero was elected President of AEIP.
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