Optimix, the multi-manager business of ING Investment Management, awarded $100 million to a volatility manager amid the recent changes to its international equities portfolio.

The multi-manager appointed Amundi Asset Management (formerly Crédit Agricole Asset Management) to run an options-based, non-directional volatility strategy, which should hedge the volatility of global equity markets, Emmanuel Calligeris, chief investment officer of Optimix, said.

Amundi was incrementally funded from mid-2009 as equity markets consistently rose, and the strategy should outperform when market beta turns negative, Calligeris said.

“We identified this strategy as being one that will perform in times of duress,” he said.

The strategy uses options of major indices, such as the S&P 500, the Nikkei 225 and FTSE 100, to implement its views on market volatility.

Optimix recently sacked AllianceBernstein, Franklin Templeton and Capital International from its $2 billion international equities portfolio, while hiring Real Index and Aberdeen. The newcomers joined Investec, MFS and Amundi in the portfolio.