Net assets of UCITS and AIFs doubled over the last ten years, reaching EUR 20.7 trillion in 2023
Net assets of UCITS and AIFs doubled over the last ten years, reaching EUR 20.7 trillion in 2023
EFAMA's Annual Review highlights our key achievements over the past 12 months and provides a useful overview of the main topics we cover.
The Review is structured around the work of our Standing Committees and Taskforces. These bodies are the lifeblood of our Association as they develop sound, unified and evidence-based common positions around relevant EU/global initiatives and campaigns.
Improved Retail Investment Strategy approved but more work still to be done
Today, EU member states confirmed their position on the Retail Investment Strategy, following months of intensive negotiations under the Belgian Council Presidency. We welcome the decision to move away from banning commissions on execution-only transactions, which ensures that retail investors will still have access to direct distribution channels such as fund platforms.
European fund trends in Q1 2024 - EFAMA has today published its European Quarterly Statistical Release for Q1 of 2024.
Thomas Tilley, Senior Economist at EFAMA, commented: “Investors flocked into bond funds in anticipation of interest rate cuts. Net sales of bond funds (UCITS and AIFs) reached EUR 95 billion for the quarter, marking the highest volume of inflows since Q2 2017.”
EFAMA has published the latest Monthly Statistical Release for March 2024.
At the Roundtable on the distribution of retail investment products on 18 July 2023, the European Commissioner for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union, Mairead McGuinness, invited the European Banking Federation (EBF), the European Fund and Asset Management Association (EFAMA) and Insurance Europe to advance an industry-driven process to explore common solutions aimed at increasing retail participation in EU capital markets.
We were pleased to welcome the Polish Chamber of Fund and Asset Managers as an EFAMA member earlier this year. In the 11th issue of our “3 Questions 2” (3Q2) series, we spoke with Malgorzata Rusewicz, CEO of the Polish association, on the Polish asset management sector.
She answered the following questions:
1: What is the structure of the asset management industry in Poland?
Investors would benefit from an EU legal framework with due diligence guidelines and reporting requirements for companies in the real economy. This framework should be consistent with the reporting requirements in the revised NFRD and the disclosures in the Sustainability-Related Disclosures regulation (SFDR). At the same time, any framework for supply chain due diligence should not impose a competitive disadvantage for EU companies.
EFAMA believes that ESMA’s draft ‘marketing communication’ Guidelines still require important clarifications to ensure full alignment between them and MiFID II’s Commission Delegated Regulation Article 44. This alignment is essential to ensure coherent rules for fund management companies and distributors. Unfortunately, parts of the proposed Guidelines are overly prescriptive and may unintentionally make some marketing materials vaguer or even inconsistent with local MiFID requirements for distributors.
EFAMA supports the main objectives of CSDR to increase the safety and efficiency of securities settlement, including:
- Shorter settlement periods,
- Prudential and supervisory requirements for CSDs and other institutions providing banking services ancillary to securities settlement,
- The imposition of a penalty regime under CSDR as an important step towards improving settlement efficiency in European capital markets.
A flawed review process not tackling the heart of the issue
EFAMA has always made it clear that a revision of the PRIIPs Regulatory Technical Standard (RTS) falls short of conducting a proper Level 1 review. A review that is explicitly required by the Level 1 Regulation and is overdue for more than one year.
The AIFMD is one of the pillars of EU regulation for investment funds, which will be crucial to the development of the Capital Markets Union (CMU) and the post Covid-19 economic recovery in the European Union.
EFAMA firmly supports the Commission’s proposed amend of the ELTIF Regulation, in line with its recently revamped “new” CMU.

Discover the 6 reasons why your organisation should become a member of EFAMA.
Our members enjoy significant benefits including the opportunity to shape the industry positions, get first-hand access to regulatory and political intelligence, engage with industry peers and policymakers, and take part in EFAMA events.
Our three membership categories cater to the wide range of organisations that make up and support the investment management industry in Europe.