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Participants agreed that this breathtaking amount of regulation needs to be informed by a high quality of meaningful debate and not by the strength of any one voice or perspective.
The industry recognised that much of this regulatory change is designed to provide for more efficient monitoring of systemic risks and better investor protection. While EFAMA does not consider asset managers to be a key driver of systemic risk, investor protection is very much at the heart of its policy and practice agenda. Members expressed concern that the unintended consequences of the broader regulation, aimed at other parts of the financial services sector, target problems that contributed to previous financial crises rather than improve the landscape for the investor going forward.
Furthermore, participants believed that the pace and nature of regulatory change may also see some enforced consolidation within the industry, as it becomes more difficult for smaller asset managers to survive and prosper, which ultimately removes genuine choice in the market for investors, and hampers innovation and diversity.
Claude Kremer, President of EFAMA, commented at the AGM: “We continue to work with regulators and government bodies across the globe to ensure that regulatory change is appropriate, measured and relevant and delivers increased stability, confidence and support for long-term efficient and accessible savings by investors across Europe. Despite the constant bombardment of investors with negative views, EFAMA continues to work with its members and other industry stakeholders to improve confidence and look for ways to identify and harness opportunities for investors.”