EFAMA

⏱️ Yesterday, the European Commission published a regulatory proposal to shorten the settlement cycle in Europe to T+1. ▶️ Watch the press briefing here: https://lnkd.in/eRjauGfw   🎯 The mobilisation by industry, by European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) and now by the European Commission to bring about this important change in a timely way, has been impressive. It demonstrates that we can ‘pick winners’ (policies that are key to SIU and the competitiveness of European financial markets) and follow through.   🤝 As asset managers, we are keen to operate in global financial markets where settlement cycles are aligned, allowing for optimal cash management and reduced frictions, particularly when trading cross-border. A coordinated migration across the EU, UK and Switzerland will do just that. EFAMA is playing its part in the work of the EU T1 Industry Committee. We hope that the co-legislators can work quickly to approve this change, and deliver regulatory certainty to the market. #tplus1 #assetmanagement #CMU

FundsTech provides excellent coverage of the launch of EFAMA's AI-System Assessment Tool. To request (free) access to the tool, please visit https://lnkd.in/e4JtFn-D. https://lnkd.in/eE7wwJfa

📅 Join PwC and us on 12 March for a webinar entitled "Asia Regulatory Update". The programme will cover key Asian regulatory developments for the asset management industry over the past 12 months, focusing on Singapore, Hong Kong, and Japan. 🌍While we see a political backlash in the U.S. against multiple regulatory initiatives, Asian regulators continue to see regulation as a competitive edge that could give their local financial centers a head start. There is a striking resemblance between the regulatory agendas in Europe and Asia. 🗣️ EFAMA's Regulatory Policy Advisor Marin Capelle will dialogue with: Paul Pak (PwC Singapore), Helen Li (PwC Hong Kong), and Dai Tsujita (PwC Japan). ❕This webinar is complimentary and open to EFAMA members and their affiliates. Please feel free to contact info@efama.org with any questions. 👉 More info on our website: https://lnkd.in/dMwz3yK8 #assetmanagement #asianfinance #competitiveness

🔎📊 👉 Asset Management in Europe on Friday! 📖 Our latest EFAMA Asset Management Report, released end of last year, contains a wealth of useful information on trends in the asset management industry. This includes data not only on funds but also on mandates. 👀 To learn about some of the more significant elements in under 4 minutes, watch Thomas Tilley and Vera Jotanovic, Ph.D, explain the report's key findings: https://lnkd.in/eb6j9n9S 💻 If you would like to go into more detail on the key findings, you can watch our webinar on this here: https://lnkd.in/eHkVkmyY 👉 Download your free copy of the complete report here: https://lnkd.in/d83aNbB3 #assetmanagement #UCITS #AIF #investmentmandates

EFAMA’s Director General, Tanguy van de WERVE, was pleased to attend the twentieth anniversary celebration of the Bulgarian Association of Asset Management Companies (BAAMC) earlier this week in beautiful Sofia. In front of representatives of the entire Bulgarian financial ecosystem, he paid tribute to the crucial role played by BAAMC over the last two decades in developing a strong and dynamic investment industry in Bulgaria, one that supports economic growth, helps individuals build financial security, and deepens Bulgaria's integration into the European financial landscape. He stressed, among other things, the importance of ensuring that the Savings and Investments Union works for all Member States and the need to simplify the regulatory framework, noting that the current huge regulatory burden has a disproportionate impact on smaller market participants, something few policymakers seem to care about. He added that EFAMA’s pan-European membership and very strong presence in CESEE countries is a key asset of the Association. Finally he congratulated the Chair of BAAMC’s Board of Directors, Natalia Petrova, for her leadership and thanked her for her active contribution as member of the EFAMA Board.

📖 European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA)’s recent report on the costs and performance of EU retail investment products points out “substantial differences in the fund cost level between the EU and the US”. The accompanying press release goes further, stating that “market inefficiencies revealed by this higher cost level show the need to focus on the competitiveness of EU markets.” ⚠️ However, a like-for-like comparison of the cost of US mutual funds and UCITS is missing from their report, making it difficult to draw these conclusions. According to EFAMA’s research, US mutual funds are not necessarily cheaper than UCITS when you take into account advice and distribution fees. 🔸 The simple average product cost of active and passive equity UCITS (excluding distribution and advice costs) was 1.04% and 0.27%, respectively, at the end of 2022. The same figures for US equity funds at the end of 2023 were 1.14% for active mutual funds, 0.55% for index mutual funds, and 0.47% for index ETFs. Read more in our Market Insights 15: https://lnkd.in/e2K6JJGF 🔸 The simple average cost of ownership of actively managed cross-border UCITS (including distribution and advice costs) was 1.68% for retail clients in 2020. The same cost figure for long-term actively managed US funds would only be lower if the professional advice fee charged is less than 0.59% per annum. Read more in our Market Insights 8: https://lnkd.in/ezq5XA5J 🇺🇸 The asset-weighted average product cost of US mutual funds, 0.65% for active funds and 0.05% for index equity mutual funds, is significantly lower than that of UCITS. This is because nearly 50% of all US mutual fund assets were held in retirement accounts (such as 401(k) plans or IRAs), which typically have lower costs. These plans pool a large number of participants, qualifying them for institutional share classes with lower expense ratios than retail funds.   👉 Read the full press release here: https://lnkd.in/ecXjecQ2 #assetmanagement #UCITS #mutualfunds #retailinvestors

🚨 Latest IOSCO recommendations would unduly hamper investment fund risk management. A lot has been done to improve financial stability over the last 15 years, but we need to ensure that regulations do not become too prescriptive and start to interfere rather than help. ➡️ Pigeonholing funds into three categories based on their liquidity, each requiring different LMTs to manage periods of stress, would mean fund managers can no longer consider their fund’s specificities in their risk models. Or alternatively, would need to run multiple risk models, leading to regulatory duplication. ➡️ Anti-dilution tools (ADTs) are not always necessary for funds investing in less liquid assets and their daily use could result in additional and unwarranted operational costs for investors, especially if supervisors expect funds to calculate implicit transaction costs before each trade.  ➡️ Supervisors providing a list of exceptional circumstances when quantity-based LMTs could be used would create expectations among investors when those circumstances arise and uncertainty when a fund is hit by a crisis that is not included in the list.   👉 Read the full press release here: https://lnkd.in/dnuVuBkc   👉 Learn more about our work on financial stability here: https://lnkd.in/eQ3A8R47   #assetmanagement #financialstability #UCITS #LMTs Marin Capelle

⚠️ The Retail Investment Strategy (RIS) requires significant simplification! EFAMA’s latest leaflet stresses that, in its current form, it will not achieve its goal of making investing more accessible to European citizens. Instead, it introduces excessive complexity and regulatory burdens that could ultimately deter, rather than encourage, retail participation.   🗝️Key recommendations outlined in the leaflet include: 🔹Delete the Value for Money (VfM) benchmarks, which impose a one-size-fits-all, overly cost focused framework that does not reflect the diversity of European products. 🔹Simplify the investor journey by eliminating redundant tests and excessive disclosures. 🔹Focus on relevant disclosures emphasising key benefits like ESG characteristics, qualitative features that drive investment decisions, and the importance of investing with a long-term horizon. 🔹Avoid additional reporting requirements, and instead leverage existing data sources like PRIIPs KID data and the European Single Access Point. 🔹Eliminate gold plating requirements, which create fragmentation and prevent a unified Savings and Investments Union.   👉 Read the press release and full report here: https://lnkd.in/d4KC9DbG 👏 Many thanks to EFAMA's Kimon Argyropoulos Niarchos for his excellent work. #assetmanagement #RIS #retailinvestment #simplification

📣 Join us for our next Regulatory Update call on Wednesday 12 February.   Topics covered will include: ✅ Savings & Investment Union ✅ Sustainable Finance & Stewardship, including the Omnibus Simplification Package ✅ Retail Investment Strategy (RIS) ✅ Financial Data Access (FIDA) ✅ EMIR 3.0 ✅ Consolidated Tape, Market Data & Market Structure Reform ✅ Accelerated Settlement Cycle (T+1) ✅ AIFMD/UCITS – ESMA Consultation on Loan Originating Funds ✅ Financial Stability – FSB & IOSCO consultations ✅ Artificial Intelligence ✅ Tokenisation ✅ Tax update   👉 EFAMA members can register via info@efama.org   🤝 Info on membership benefits available upon request addressed to info@efama.org   #assetmanagement #tplus1 #dora #fida #siustrategy #sustainablefinance #ris #ucits

🔎📊 👉 Asset Management in Europe on Friday! 📖 Our latest EFAMA Asset Management Report, released end of last year, contains a wealth of useful information on trends in the asset management industry. This includes data not only on funds but also on mandates. 👀 To learn about some of the more significant elements in under 4 minutes, watch Thomas Tilley and Vera Jotanovic, Ph.D, explain the report's key findings: https://lnkd.in/eb6j9n9S 💻 If you would like to go into more detail on the key findings, you can watch our webinar on this here: https://lnkd.in/eHkVkmyY 👉 Download your free copy of the complete report here: https://lnkd.in/d83aNbB3 #assetmanagement #UCITS #AIF #investmentmandates