Prim' Finance
Prim’ Finance is a portfolio management company accredited by France’s Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF) in 2002.It offers direct management of European equity indices and commodities.
Prim’ Finance created “Kappa management”, a flexible, responsible type of management that is able to adapt to the market’s conditions. This management concept can be applied to any type of financial assets. Prim’ Finance developed this concept on equity indices with FCP OFI Prim KappaStocks and Prim’ KappaVol, and on commodities, with FCP Prim’ Agriculture.
Prim’ Finance’s philosophy
Although we do not have greater means than anyone else to predict the future and fluctuations of the markets in the coming days and months, we are able to define a number of market entry and exit rules based on price fluctuations.
Our approach is trend following, together with very strict risk management, applied systematically. Our priority is to preserve the capital that is invested with us, which requires us to cut losses, clearly and quickly.
This principle is based on the observation that the compounding of interest is one of the best ways to significantly increase one’s capital over time and that any significant loss will prevent you from taking advantage of this.
Prim’ Finance’s strengths
• A French regulatory framework
• Products offering daily liquidity
• High performance products
• Unique access to the commodities market
• Total management transparency
• Well-known partners
• Managers who are truly passionate about their work
Prim’ Finance’s history
2002 - Founding of Prim’ Finance (formerly Prim’ Alternative Investment) and launch of the first fund: Prim’Futures2005 - Launch of the first three pure commodities funds
2006 - BNP Paribas Asset Management Group takes a 10.00% stake in the company’s capital
2007 - Launch of the Prim’KappaStocks fund
- Awarded the “Prix Tremplin Innovation et Asset Management” prize
- European Lipper Hedge Fund Award 2008 for Prim’ EssenCiel
2008 - Launch of the first FCP diversified commodities fund in France: Prim’
Agriculture
- Signing of a co-branding agreement with OFI AM for Prim’ Kappastocks :
the fund is now called OFI Prim’ KappaStocks
2009 - Prim’ Alternative Investment becomes Prim’ Finance
- OFI-AM takes a 33.37% stake in the company’s capital
Prim’ Finance’s expertise
Management type expertise
What lies behind Prim’ Finance’s originality is the transformation of management expertise on future contracts into a genuinely innovative line of products reflected by its commodity funds and Kappa management. The company can demonstrate a successful combination of the asset and index aspects of OPCVM management.
Expertise in additional asset classes
• Equity indices
Prim’ Finance manages equity index futures contracts, the risk of which is controlled by the management team, through a track record that goes back to 1993. The result of this expertise has mainly been reflected in products that take advantage of market trends and volatility.
• Commodities
Prim’ Finance manages commodities futures contracts. The team has a high-level mastery of the market challenges of the assets underlying these contracts, as well as excellent knowledge of challenges that are not strictly financial in nature: regulations, macroeconomic trends, geopolitics, weather, storage, production…
Recognised, highly sought after expertise
Prim’ Finance’s management team has nearly 50 combined years of experience on the financial markets and the use and design of quantitative management modelling have been tested through more than 15 years of practice. An expert in risk management, Médéric de Vasselot leads training programmes on a regular basis.
In addition, as one of the very top commodities specialists in France, Prim’ Finance now acts as a consultant on this subject in several different media. Benjamin Louvet and Xavier Le Blan have appeared on a regular basis in a programme on Bloomberg France TV, and appear frequently for the Radio France Group, BFM, LCI (a French television station) and “Le Figaro” magazine.
Prim’ Finance has also acted as a consultant to France’s Minister of Finance (section: business intelligence), Mrs Christine Lagarde, in an assignment to study French commodity market regulations. The company was also invited to participate in a round table, organised by the French Ministry of Agriculture at the request of the European Commission, on the role of the financial markets in the area of agricultural products. The company is often consulted by French authorities on the functioning and practices of the commodities markets.
Prim'Finance’s activity in figures
• Situation capitalistique
Le capital social de la société s’élève à 600 000€ au 30 Novembre 2009, est réparti comme suit
Associés fondateurs : 56.63 %
Groupe OFI : 33.37 %
BNP Paribas Asset Management Group : 10 %
Les capitaux propres sont supérieurs à 700 000 € au 30 novembre 2009
• Activité de la société de gestion
Principal figures of the profit and loss account and balance sheet
| Year | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 prev |
| Shareholders' equity | 185 184 € | 249 796 € | 316 436 € | 316 541 € | 800 000 € |
| Turnover | 307 450 € | 718 949 € | 767 601 € | 911 140 € | 1 600 000 € |
| Net income | -3 454 € | +64 409 € | +66 843 € | +104 € | + 70 000 € |
Assets under management
Total assets under management
| Year | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 |
| Assets under management | 11.1 M€ | 14.5 M€ | 67.6 M€ | 40 M€ | 78 M€ | 93 M€ |
