Papiasse plans for BNP

BNP Paribas's money management operations will soon get a lot bigger, if Alain Papiasse has his way. Papiasse, who took over BNP's asset management and services division on January 1, is keen to build an operation that matches the power and sway of its Parisian parent, which ranks fifth among European banks, with assets of E768 billion ($1.04 trillion). By contrast, BNP Paribas Asset Management, the core of Papiasse's division, oversees E193.3 billion and ranks just 21st on Institutional Investor's Euro 100 list of top money managers. Even in France, where BNP Paribas is the second-biggest bank, behind Crédit Agricole, its money management operation ranks only fourth.

"Over the next three years, if we make the right decisions and execute correctly, the scale of asset management should reach a level in line with the overall size of the bank, through both organic growth and acquisitions," vows Papiasse, adding that although it will be a challenge, "we will grow without sacrificing profitability."

The son of a carpenter in a working-class suburb of Paris, Papiasse began working for Crédit Lyonnais in 1973 at age 18 as a gofer in the bank's Parisian telex department, while completing university through night classes. He rose to oversee commercial bank activities in North and South America before returning to Paris in 1998 to run Crédit Lyonnais Asset Management and later all corporate and investment banking operations. In January 2003 he was named COO of Calyon, the investment bank created by the merger of Crédit Agricole and Crédit Lyonnais. He resigned from Calyon in May 2004.

And where might BNP be looking to purchase? "It's too early to give a definitive answer on whether we'll acquire in the U.S.," allows Papiasse. "But it's something I'm thinking about."