Annual report 2005 - Dexia.com

DexiaActivity portfolio – Business model – StrategyThe business line also operates units outsideBelgium and Luxembourg. These involvevarious types of approaches and/or productfocus. The main areas are:- France where the Group holds a 20%participation in Crédit du Nord, DexiaBanque Privée France – a wholly-ownedprivate bank –, and Dexia Epargne Pension,a specialized life insurance business;- Switzerland through Dexia Private BankSwitzerland;- Slovakia through Dexia banka Slovensko,a bank with 52 branches, which caters bothto the local public clients and to the personalsector;- Spain, where Dexia holds a 40%participation in Popular Banca Privada,a private banking joint venture with BancoPopular.• Treasury and Financial Markets (TFM), isa segment whose mission is largely aimed atgiving support to the other business lines ofthe Group, and which is run as a profit centerin its own right.TFM provides short-term money marketproducts and long-term funding for theGroup supporting the growth of the Group’sbalance sheet.TFM teams also develop, through permanentinnovation, the offer of a large range of capitalmarket products (fixed income, structuredproducts based on interest rates and equityderivatives, foreign exchange, securitization)to the customers of the commercial businesslines (local authorities, corporates, retail andprivate clients, institutional investors, fundmanagers and so on).Finally, TFM manages a bond portfolio(Credit Spread Portfolio), which contributesto ensuring a high level of liquidity for theGroup and brings a sizeable part of thebusiness line’s earnings.• Asset Management. Dexia has successfullydeveloped its own production capacity. Inthe first place this has related to mutualfunds, considering the retail networks’growing demand for this kind of product,with increasing levels of sophistication.This expertise has then been extendedto institutional investors, amongDexia’s traditional clients – for instancethe institutions of the public sector – butalso to other institutions such as pensionfunds, endowments and foundations, viaa professional distribution sales force.Today Dexia Asset Management isthe organization where asset managementskills are concentrated. It is a significantEuropean player, with three productioncenters in Belgium, Luxembourg andFrance, and client coverage in these threecountries plus Italy, Spain, Switzerland,Germany, Austria, the United Kingdom,the Scandinavian countries, and in Australia.2005 has been a year of strong extension innew markets.Dexia Asset Management manages a completerange of products including equity, fixedincome,money market and diversified funds.The company holds strong positions inspecific areas such as alternative investmentmanagement and socially responsibleinvestment funds.20