Any candidate for membership or associate membership of EFAMA must endorse EFAMA’s mission (and be able to indicate how it supports this mission in practice):

to support a high level of investor protection through promotion of high ethical standards, integrity & professionalism throughout the industry with particular reference to EFAMA's High Level Principles adopted by the AGM held in June 2004 in Dublin and the Best Practice Discussion Paper adopted by Directors at their meeting in September 2005 (please refer to the section "Standards" on this website);
to promote the completion of an effective single market for investment management and the creation of a level playing field for competing saving and investment products;
to strengthen the competitiveness of the industry in terms of cost & quality through seeking & obtaining improvements in the legal, fiscal and regulatory environment.

There are three categories of EFAMA Members:
1)    National Associations

2)    Corporate Members

3)    Associate Members

1)    National Associations

National Association Members shall be sufficiently independent to provide EFAMA with opinions reflecting the interest of the national investment management industry, and also when conflicting with the interests of other areas of the national financial industry.

National Association Members shall have decision making bodies mandated to conduct independent budgetary and policy decisions representing the interests of the national investment management industry.

National Association Members implementing structural changes affecting the mandate of their decision making bodies or the representation of the investment management industry in such bodies in ways that could have relevance to the requirements mentioned above, should immediately inform EFAMA about the changes taking place, and whether they affect the association’s ability to represent the interests of the national investment management industry.

Candidate National Associations must:

a.      Have significant representation of the investment management market in their respective countries;

b.      If they represent investment funds, they should - at least for a substantial part – represent investment funds regulated by a specific law or regulation which are:

–   publicly offered,

–   repurchased or redeemed at NAV at the holders request,

–   investing in transferable securities,

–   operated on the principle of risk-spreading,

–   entrusting their assets to a depositary;

c.       Be a recognised body for dialogue with the relevant authorities in their country for at least three years;

d.      Have the capacity and willingness to:

–   regularly attend EFAMA Board and General Meetings,

–   report the quarterly statistical data requested by EFAMA’s Secretariat, at least concerning the main categories,

–   contribute to surveys & consultations carried out by EFAMA’s Secretariat.

The application for membership shall include a report covering all the above-mentioned requirements and include information on statistics and other relevant qualitative aspects of the national industry as well as on the regulatory framework for the investment management industry in the respective country.

2)    Corporate Members

As a matter of principle, corporate membership is open to asset managers or managers of UCITS, national equivalents or Alternative Investment Funds. However, under particular circumstances, exceptions can be made for corporations which are not asset managers but the principal activities of which are one or more of the other core activities of a fund management company (set out in the annex to Directive 85/611/EEC).

In accepting such applicants, EFAMA members shall ensure that the principal character of EFAMA as an association for investment management remains intact.

3)    Associate Members

Associate membership is open to companies, firms, associations and other organisations that do not qualify to become National Association Member or Corporate Member of the Association but that are acting as service providers or major stakeholders to the European investment fund industry and/or asset management industry and have developed a specific expertise in this field that may be helpful to achieve the objectives of the Association. It may, for instance, include national and international law firms, audit and consulting firms, IT and technology support providers, research firms, fund service providers, fund administrators, depositaries and global custodians, clearing and settlement institutions ... (non-exhaustive list).

In accepting such applicants, EFAMA members shall ensure that the principal character of EFAMA as an association for investment management remains intact.