In 2014, BETTER FINANCE, had asked ESMA to carry out an EU-wide investigation on closet indexing. At the beginning of February 2016, ESMA eventually released results of its investigation but failed to disclose those funds that were uncovered by its investigation as potentially falsely active. BETTER FINANCE therefore decided to replicate the research by ESMA
The number of potential closet trackers identified by Investment Adviser research has declined substantially in the past 12 months, from 15 in 2015 to just four. Research into closet trackers has grown more popular, with Morningstar recently releasing a study of the active share of European large-cap funds between 2005 and 2015 that shows 20.2
Today the German regulator became the latest in Europe to launch an investigation into its domestic asset management market to determine whether local companies mis-sold funds to retail clients. Guillaume Prache, managing director of BETTER FINANCE, the investor rights group that called on Esma to investigate closet tracking in 2014, commented that the German regulator’s
Ziarul Financiar, a Romanian newspaper, reports on the private pension situation in Romania. Romanians are likely to on average accumulate €17,000 during their lifetime through private pension plans. This amount would last them for just 4 years into retirement, reports the newspaper. This news comes despite the fact that Romanian private pensions had some of
Following the European Parliament’s vote in favour of the proposal to revise the Shareholders Rights Directive onJuly 8, Arnaud Houdmont from BETTER FINANCE brought attention to BETTER FINANCE’s concerns regarding the "say on pay" rule approved by MEPs in an article in French daily L’Agefi. Since the rule stipulates that it is up to each member state to decide whether a vote on remuneration
BETTER FINANCE’s "Pension Savings: The Real Return" was mentioned in an article in L’Argus d’Assurance.com. The findings of the report echoed in the French media following our press conference in Paris on October 30. The event, organized by FAIDER, the Fédération des Associations Indépendantes de Défense des Epargnants pour la Retraite and BETTER FINANCE’s French member organization,
L’Echo has quoted BETTER FINANCE for All in its article on pension funds and their (under)performance in Belgium. The findings of our newly released report "Pension Savings: The Real Return" are contrasted with the views of the President of L’Association des Institutions de pension belges. Please find the article (in French) here and our press release
On October 27, Guillaume Prache, EuroFinUse’s Managing Director, was quoted in the Financial Times on the European Parliament’s vote on the KID Regulation proposal last week. The Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee approved the KID rules by a large majority but the negotiations with EU member states will not open immediately since the new rules
Under the EU’s Packaged Retail Investment Product (PRIPs) directive, investors would have to be issued a key information document (KID) that would, amongst other things shed light on a product’s past performances. This naturally, has the pension industry up in arms. The exclusion of occupational pension schemes from the PRIPs scope would ”avoid any negative
In March 2015, the FCA launched the Asset Management Market Study with the purpose of increasing transparency on charges, eliminating conflicts of interests and restoring savers’ trust in the asset management industry. Following two years of investigation, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) concludes that asset managers must overhaul their charging structures and improve their governance