In our latest Monthly Statistical Release, we show the main developments for the European investment fund market in December 2024 and include a first overview and analysis of the full year 2024.
In our latest Monthly Statistical Release, we show the main developments for the European investment fund market in December 2024 and include a first overview and analysis of the full year 2024.
Today, the European Fund and Asset Management Association (EFAMA) published the 20th issue of its Market Insights series, titled “Beyond fund consolidation: a more promising strategy for bigger funds and faster cost declines in Europe”. This publication compares the size and number of equity UCITS with that of US equity mutual funds and challenges the commonly held belief that fund consolidation will significantly lower the cost of funds in Europe.
In its recently published market report on the costs and performance of EU retail investment products, ESMA asserts that there are “substantial differences in the fund cost level between the EU and the US”. In its accompanying press release, ESMA emphasizes that “the market inefficiencies revealed by this higher cost level show the need to focus on the competitiveness of EU markets, within a future Savings and Investments Union.”
Since recent market disruptions such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the Financial Stability Board (FSB) and the International Organization of Securities Supervisors (IOSCO) have investigated how to make investment funds more resilient to liquidity shocks. The FSB published their recommendations in December 2023 and IOSCO is now looking into how to adjust their own 2018 recommendations along these lines.
In its response to IOSCO’s consultation on the revised recommendations for liquidity risk management for collective investment schemes, EFAMA welcomes the fact that IOSCO recognises aspects essential for proper risk management (e.g., asset managers’ primary responsibility and the absence of one-size-fits-all approaches).
Representatives of the EU and UK-based financial services industries met today (11 February 2025) in Brussels to discuss their respective priorities and shared challenges on the eve of the latest EU-UK Financial Regulatory Forum meeting and agreed on the following statement.
In its current form, the Retail Investment Strategy (RIS) will not achieve its goal of making investing more accessible to European citizens and could deter, rather than encourage, retail participation. In order to stand a chance of delivering on its objectives, the RIS needs urgent simplification. EFAMA have produced a short leaflet with our recommendations on how to simplify and reduce complexity in the current proposal.
Our key suggestions include:
EFAMA welcomes the decision of the European Commission to adopt a targeted approach in its review of the Alternative Investment Fund Management Directive (AIFMD), along with key harmonising provisions within the Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferrable Securities Directive (UCITSD). This focus on targeted improvements recognises the role this framework has played in encouraging the growth in the European Alternative Investment Fund (AIF) market over the past decade and its resilience even throughout recent market stresses.
EFAMA strongly supports the Commission's draft proposal amending the ELTIF Regulation where it addresses some of the major obstacles that have undermined the attractiveness of the ELTIF product since inception. The revised legal framework has the potential to transform ELTIF into a product of choice for a larger (retail) investor audience, all while serving the purposes of the Capital Markets Union (CMU). However, some important adjustments remain to be made for the ELTIF regime to reach its full potential as a competitive long-term investment option.
The European Commission’s proposal on MiFIR establishes the blueprint for a consolidated tape (CT) for Europe’s capital markets. It also significantly alters the competitive market structure brought about by MiFID II by introducing greater transparency requirements. Finally, it addresses important issues around market data costs.
EFAMA replied to IASB’s request for information on the Post-Implementation Review (PIR) of IFRS 9 – Classification and measurement. Our paper recaps EFAMA’s key concerns and recommendations to the IASB. The key concerns of the industry are the removal of recycling (in particular for institutional investors) and the classification of investment entities and investment funds as debt instruments.
We commend the work that IOSCO has undertaken to date on this topic including the survey work and the summary findings in the form of the report currently under review. It is fair to say that the conclusions of the report and areas for further work gave rise to detailed discussions within our industry, yielding ultimately firm views on the priority areas that we support and see value in, and areas we felt were not reflected in the study and thereby building risk into margining models in future crisis scenarios. These areas are fur
For asset managers the main issue continues to be the reclassification of ETDs as OTCs as a result of the non-equivalence of UK regulated markets. While we understand that a review is legally mandated at this point in time, we do not see value in recalibrating the various thresholds or making changes to the calculation methodologies unless these are in the two areas we define below. Our main concern revolves around the fact that changes would carry significant compliance costs while making little impact on the population of counterparties and notional captured by the thresholds.

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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.