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?
The asset management industry recognises the much-needed adoption of mandatory European sustainability reporting standards under the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) proposal. Insufficient availability of meaningful, comparable, reliable, and public Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) data is a key impediment to realising the full potential of the EU's sustainable finance regulatory framework. Financial market participants' sustainable investments need to be driven by real, verifiable and reported ESG metrics of company's activities and financial risks.
Nine associations (AFME, AIMA, EAPB, EBF, EFAMA, FIA, ICI, ISDA, SIFMA AMG) welcome the Commission's decision to grant a time-limited equivalence decision in respect of UK CCPs. However, when this time-limited equivalence decision expires on 30 June 2022, there remains a significant risk of disruption to clearing for EU firms and to their access to global markets.
Given the increasingly important role ESG ratings and data products providers play in investment processes, EFAMA welcomes the increased attention of regulators to this issue. In light of the growing regulatory scrutiny on the ESG characteristics of potential investments, improving the usability and reliability of the ESG ratings and data products is a key priority for the European asset management industry.
The European Commission recently adopted amendments to the Packaged Retail and Insurance-based Investment Products (PRIIPs) Regulation and the Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities (UCITS) Directive. However, in contrast to earlier plans, the adoption of the revised Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) amending Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/653 has been postponed.
EFAMA and several other financial industry associations, raised concerns in response to a consultation conducted by the European Commission on planned changes to the Packaged Retail and Insurance-based Investment Products (PRIIPs) framework.
The unexpected delay to the adoption of the revised PRIIPs RTS cuts the implementation period for the industry by more than two months. This leaves PRIIPs manufacturers and distributors with a too short period instead of the original timeframe of 12 months to implement the new rules.
EFAMA responded to a public consultation of the Platform on Sustainable Finance on a social taxonomy.
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.