ESMA’s Call for Evidence on the UCITS Eligible Assets Directive is a welcome opportunity to take stock of the existing UCITS framework.
UCITS
UCITS (Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities) refers to the EU framework for harmonising the creation, management and marketing of collective investment schemes in the EU (and EEA) Member States. It places a strong focus on investors’ protection and product regulation. Owing to this harmonised framework, once UCITS funds are registered in one Member State, they can be freely marketed across the European Union. Initially adopted in 1985, the UCITS Directive has since been modified repeatedly, to take into account developments in financial markets.
EFAMA is adamant to protect the competitiveness and international appeal of UCITS.
High-level response to ESMA consultation on notifications for cross-border marketing and management of AIFs and UCITS
EFAMA welcomes the European Securities and Market Authority’s continuous commitment to creating a single market for investment funds, confirmed by the draft regulatory standards currently under consideration. These RTS/ITS would further harmonise information that asset managers should provide to their national competent authorities before marketing or managing an investment fund on a cross-border basis, thus facilitating intra-EU product distribution.
EFAMA reply to ESMA CP on marketing communications guidelines
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.
European Statistics Q2 2020 | Investor confidence in Q2 results in sharp rebound in sales of UCITS
The European Fund and Asset Management Association (EFAMA) has today published its Quarterly Statistical Release describing the trends in the European investment fund industry in the second quarter of 2020 with key data and indicators for each EFAMA member countries.
Bernard Delbecque, Senior Director for Economics and Research at EFAMA commented:
Monthly Statistics June 2020 | Net sales of UCITS break the EUR 100 billion mark in June
The European Fund and Asset Management Association (EFAMA) has today published its latest monthly Investment Fund Industry Fact Sheet, which provides net sales data of UCITS and AIFs for June 2020.
International Statistics Q1 2020 | Large drop in worldwide investment fund assets in Q1 2020 against the backdrop of large net inflows
The European Fund and Asset Management Association (EFAMA), has today published its latest International Statistical Release describing the trends in worldwide investment fund industry in the first quarter of 2020*.
Worldwide regulated open-ended fund assets decreased by 10.8 percent to EUR 47.1 trillion in the first quarter of 2020. Worldwide net cash flow to all funds amounted to EUR 617 billion, compared to EUR 808 billion in the fourth quarter of 2019.
Open-ended funds and resilient capital markets - the perspective of the European asset management industry
For the best part of this decade, macro-prudential supervisors have argued that investment funds contribute to the build-up of systemic risks. Today, EFAMA has published an ambitious report that provides a comprehensive overview of the contribution of the European investment fund sector to the diversity and resilience of capital markets.
Some key findings include:
The costs of UCITS and US mutual funds | Market Insights | Issue #8
It is often argued that European citizens are not able to fully benefit from the single market for investment funds, on the basis that the cost of UCITS is higher than the cost of mutual funds in the United States (US). In this Market Insights, we analyse this question by carrying out a detailed comparison of the cost of UCITS and US mutual funds, taking into account the various ways of calculating costs as well as the differences between Europe and the US in the way investment funds are distributed.
Fund managers retain only 41% of the total cost paid by retail investors | Market Insights | Issue #6
EFAMA has released its latest Market Insights report titled “Perspective on the costs of UCITS”. The full report breaks down the costs of UCITS, focusing on the fees charged for the different services provided along the investment fund value chain and distinguishing between the product cost for which fund managers are directly responsible, and the