Key Takeaways
- • Amundi Chenavari Credit UCITS won The Hedge Fund Journal's UCITS Hedge Award for best performance in 2024 and over both 5- and 7-year periods in the European Credit Long/Short category, with USD 870 million in assets under management—the largest UCITS hedge fund on Amundi's platform.
- • The strategy targets high single-digit absolute returns through the cycle and has delivered European high-yield index-comparable returns since 2016 while significantly reducing volatility and drawdowns: down 1-2% less in 2018 and 8-10% less in 2022 versus long-only benchmarks.
- • Senior Portfolio Manager Stephane Parlebas and Partner/Deputy CEO Vincent Laurencin have co-managed the fund since its 2016 relaunch, bringing combined expertise spanning over two decades in credit portfolio management and risk-focused investing, including a prescient decision to turn net short ahead of the Covid-19 pandemic.
- • The Chenavari partnership with Amundi originated through Lyxor Asset Management in 2015, strengthened by Lyxor's 2022 merger with Amundi, establishing a long-term institutional foundation for the European credit strategy.
Summary
Amundi Chenavari Credit UCITS has earned recognition as a top-performing European credit long/short hedge fund, winning The Hedge Fund Journal's UCITS Hedge Award for best performance across multiple time horizons ending December 2024. With USD 870 million in assets under management, the fund represents the largest UCITS hedge fund offering on Amundi's platform, underscoring institutional demand for regulated European credit strategies that balance return generation with capital preservation.
The strategy's investment thesis centers on generating high single-digit absolute returns through full market cycles while maintaining downside discipline. Since its 2016 relaunch, the fund has matched the return profile of long-only European high-yield indices while materially reducing volatility and maximum drawdowns—a critical differentiator during stress periods. Most notably, the fund posted losses 1-2 percentage points smaller than comparable long-only indices in 2018 and approximately 8-10 percentage points smaller in 2022, demonstrating the effectiveness of its dynamic hedging and long/short positioning framework.
The fund is led by Senior Portfolio Manager Stephane Parlebas and Partner/Deputy CEO Vincent Laurencin, who have jointly managed the vehicle since its 2016 relaunch. Parlebas brings credit expertise developed since 2004, including prior tenures at SGAI and Lyxor Asset Management before joining Chenavari in 2010. Laurencin transitioned to the buy side in 2015 from a sell-side equity research role at Exane, bringing a disciplined focus on downside protection and risk asymmetry across the credit spectrum, including derivative instruments. The partnership demonstrated prescient risk management during the Covid-19 pandemic, with the team turning net short ahead of the crisis—a positioning decision that Laurencin credits to Parlebas's assessment of pandemic severity risks.
Chenavari's institutional relationship with Amundi commenced through Lyxor Asset Management in 2015, then solidified following Lyxor's integration into Amundi in 2022. This long-standing partnership has provided stable infrastructure for the strategy's growth while maintaining operational independence and specialized credit management capabilities essential to European institutional investors seeking hedge fund-structured exposure to credit markets.
The strategy's investment thesis centers on generating high single-digit absolute returns through full market cycles while maintaining downside discipline. Since its 2016 relaunch, the fund has matched the return profile of long-only European high-yield indices while materially reducing volatility and maximum drawdowns—a critical differentiator during stress periods. Most notably, the fund posted losses 1-2 percentage points smaller than comparable long-only indices in 2018 and approximately 8-10 percentage points smaller in 2022, demonstrating the effectiveness of its dynamic hedging and long/short positioning framework.
The fund is led by Senior Portfolio Manager Stephane Parlebas and Partner/Deputy CEO Vincent Laurencin, who have jointly managed the vehicle since its 2016 relaunch. Parlebas brings credit expertise developed since 2004, including prior tenures at SGAI and Lyxor Asset Management before joining Chenavari in 2010. Laurencin transitioned to the buy side in 2015 from a sell-side equity research role at Exane, bringing a disciplined focus on downside protection and risk asymmetry across the credit spectrum, including derivative instruments. The partnership demonstrated prescient risk management during the Covid-19 pandemic, with the team turning net short ahead of the crisis—a positioning decision that Laurencin credits to Parlebas's assessment of pandemic severity risks.
Chenavari's institutional relationship with Amundi commenced through Lyxor Asset Management in 2015, then solidified following Lyxor's integration into Amundi in 2022. This long-standing partnership has provided stable infrastructure for the strategy's growth while maintaining operational independence and specialized credit management capabilities essential to European institutional investors seeking hedge fund-structured exposure to credit markets.
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