EUROPE - Fortis Investments, the asset management arm of the Fortis group, reported a net inflow of €10.1bn for 2006.

The divisions net inflow is slightly down from €10.9bn in 2005. In total, Fortis group's funds under management rose by 16% in total over the last year to €191bn.

Fortis Investments saw its assets under management increase by 15% to €121bn. Net profit after tax rose 64% to €87m.

This year, the division will expand its operations into Turkey, according to Fortis' full-year report.

In November, Fortis Investments established an Amsterdam-based Fiduciary Management capability following the Dutch trend of pension funds choosing fiduciary managers over individual providers.

The Fortis division also set up an SRI investment centre in Frankfurt "to accommodate the rapidly-growing demand for this asset class," Fortis said.

In 2006 Fortis also signed a Russian joint venture with CIT Finance Investment Bank to establish an asset management arm in Russia.

Elsewhere, Paris-based Compagnie Fiancière Edmond de Rothschild reported a 22% rise in assets under management bringing the total to €26bn.

The bank saw net new inflows rise to €2.6bn after averaging €2.5bn in 2004 and 2005. It also noted a  "solid growth" in the multi-management domain.

Edmond de Rothschild Financial  Services, the structured product and management business manages close to €2.7bn, largely in the form of EMTNs and guaranteed funds for institutional clients.