Fund inflows into Candriam Investors topped €1bn every month during 2015.

The specialist European asset manager, which is owned by New York Life, said it gathered record net inflows of €12bn over the twelve months.

That's an 18% uptick year-on-year with inflows evenly split between institutional and retail investors.

Distribution peaked in Belgium, Spain, Germany and Italy, the firm said.

Candriam - which was rebranded from Dexia Asset Management following New York Life's €380m acquisition in 2014 -  also said it gained traction with institutional investors in France and Belgium.

Products and services complying with the new Solvency II framework, an EU insurance regulation, proved popular.

Inflows were particularly strong for the multi-asset and asset allocation solutions, which attracted €4.5bn of new investment.

In total the business was managing €94.1bn in assets at the end of last year.

Naïm Abou-Jaoudé, chairman of New York Life Investments, added that Candriam is geared up to further expand its global distribution reach, including opening a US branch.

The business has also been expanding in the UK and announced two senior hires - Chris Davies as head of UK distribution, and Derek Brander as head of UK wholesale – earlier this year.