When Valérie Baudson was announced as chief executive of Amundi in May 2021, it was a boom time for the sector. Asset managers were riding the wave of rising equity markets and a broadly positive outlook.

The honeymoon was short-lived. In 2022, the European asset management sector experienced one of its worst years on record. Investors pulled €130bn from funds, while revenue and profit across the sector was hit by a worsening economic environment. And the industry is not yet out of the woods.