AIC responds to the interim report of the FCA’s Investment Platforms Market Study
Ian Sayers, Chief Executive of the AIC, comments on the interim report.
The FCA today issued the Interim Report of its Investment Platforms Market Study, raising the concern that competition between platforms may not be working well for some groups of consumers. The FCA also believes platforms could do more to encourage competition between asset managers.
Responding to the report, Ian Sayers, Chief Executive of the Association of Investment Companies (AIC) said: “While this report raises some important issues, we hope that the FCA will not miss the opportunity to look at how platforms promote competition in a broader sense. Looking at competition between asset managers is fine, but competition between different types of investment product is also vital for a healthy market.
“Investment companies can provide better long-term performance, with the average investment company returning 165% over the past ten years, compared to 108% for the average open-ended fund*. But recent research from the lang cat has shown that platforms can form a barrier to the use of investment companies, particularly in the adviser market, where platform pricing structures can make it less cost-effective to hold listed funds.
“The FCA should ensure its further work on this topic considers whether platforms facilitate or frustrate competition between different fund types.”
The lang cat’s research on barriers to using investment companies in the platform market can be downloaded here.
