BNP Paribas Asset Management has taken a majority stake in Overlay...

BNP Paribas Asset Management has taken a majority stake in Overlay Asset Management of France, a foreign exchange risk-management firm created in 1998, according to Elie Dhautefort, OAM chairman. Terms were not disclosed. OAM has nearly $1 billion in assets under management and will keep its current name and management. BNP Paribas Asset Management, along with its Fischer Francis Trees & Watts unit, which is a manager of large foreign exchange risk positions, will create a global currency overlay platform. It will begin operations in the second quarter of 2001. Mr. Dhautefort said, "The main targets (of the unit) are pension funds and institutional investors.”