The AXA Framlington American Growth fund and the AXA Framlington UK Mid Cap fund will be renamed BNP Paribas AM (UK) US Growth Fund and BNP Paribas AM (UK) UK Mid Cap Fund respectively from 30 November 2026, as AXA Investment Managers completes its rebrand to BNP Paribas Asset Management.
On top of the name change, American Growth's day-to-day management is being delegated to BNP Paribas's US-based affiliate, while UK Mid Cap is getting a new lead manager following a departure.
The moves follow BNP Paribas's acquisition of AXA Investment Managers last year. All UK-domiciled ex-AXA funds are being renamed to align with BNP Paribas branding and shareholders have been told that BNP's ESG criteria will apply across the entire ex-AXA IM UK range from January 2027.
US Growth fund gets new managers and a new benchmark
American Growth's management is being “aligned” with BNPP AM's US Growth strategy, the group's flagship US equity fund, which has built up assets under management of over £1bn across a broad client base. The fund will be run by Boston-based managers Chris Fay, Geoff Dailey and Tyler Curtis, following the same process used on the Luxembourg-domiciled version of the strategy.
The investment policy is also being widened. Rather than investing only in companies listed in the US, the fund will be able to hold companies that are registered in the US or that carry out the majority of their business there, giving the manager a broader set of stocks with US economic exposure to choose from.
BNP Paribas also confirmed the fund's benchmark is changing from the S&P 500 to the Russell 1000 Growth index.
A spokesperson for the firm said: “American Growth is aligning its strategy with BNPP AM’s flagship US Growth Luxemburg fund. This decision has been made in the interest of our clients, as an opportunity to strengthen the long-term investment proposition for investors and benefit from the strength of BNPP AM’s expertise. The Funds’ core investment philosophies and risk profile will remain unaltered after the changes take effect.”
UK Mid Cap loses its long-standing manager
Chris St John, manager of the UK Mid Cap fund, is leaving BNP Paribas AM at the end of September 2026, with Dan Harlow, who has worked on the fund for more than a decade and already leads the AXA Framlington UK Smaller Companies fund, becoming lead manager, a BNP Paribas spokesperson confirmed.
The investment approach will continue blending top-down analysis of broad economic themes with bottom-up stock research, targeting growing companies positioned to benefit from long-run structural trends.
Both funds' core investment philosophies and risk profiles are unchanged, according to BNP Paribas AM. The rename takes effect on 30 November, with the ESG alignment across the wider ex-AXA IM range following in January 2027.