INTERVIEW
Concord Asset Management – Innovative Solutions for Bulgaria’s Investors
Natalia Petrova is the Executive Director at Concord Asset Management (CAM), a registered investment advisor providing clients with innovative asset management solutions. She has over 15 years of experience working in asset management, capital markets, equity and fixed income trading and securities sales. Wanda Rich, editor of Global Banking & Finance Review, recently spoke with Natalia to find out what sets CAM apart from its competitors, what opportunities are available in an increasingly volatile market, and her predictions for the coming year. Last year, Concord Asset Management celebrated 15 years of operation. How has Concord Asset Management developed over the years? Concord Asset Management has proven to be a leader in the nonbank asset management industry in Bulgaria, focusing on mutual funds management and innovative products. Since I joined Concord Asset Management three years ago, the company has doubled in AuM in UCITS funds; the first interactive education for investors in the country was released; an online-
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based platform (Concord Online) for remote investing in mutual funds was introduced, and for the first time, the digital onboarding of clients using eID application was introduced in an asset management company in Bulgaria. We have also launched a regular investment product called ‘EXCELLENT Financial Plan’ which allows saving and investing at the same time. However, the challenges are still ahead of us. We are working on products that could bring even more diversity for our clients. We have applied to the Bulgarian Financial Supervision Commission for obtaining a full license for the asset management company to manage alternative investment funds.
How did Concord Asset Management adapt operations as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic?
Why should investors choose Concord Asset Management over other asset management companies?
What are the current opportunities you see for investors right now? What advice do you have for them for riding out the increasingly volatile market?
As our company’s slogan says, ‘We are different.’ We are flexible and we aim to be close to the investors, to create trustworthy and innovative decisions for their portfolios. We strive to be pioneers in developing new products in Bulgaria. Our goal is to become a preferred partner for South East European asset management solutions.
The COVID-19 pandemic resulted not only in changes to people’s habits and their way of living - the companies have also changed. We started to become more digital, to develop solutions and platforms that would be just one click away from the customers. We are proud that we haven’t lost our market share during the pandemic. Our business is dependent on the development of the capital markets, so we have worked to achieve good performance and wide diversification by optimising the risk of the portfolios.
In the current environment, everyone is looking for an opportunity to invest quickly, easily and remotely. We have created a product for regular investment, and have automated the entire investment process without the necessity for the client to come to our office every month. We use an online platform and once the investor becomes our client and