UK watchdog, the FCA, today released a Discussion Paper focused on updating and improving the UK asset management sector.
With no cemented new proposals put forward, the next three months should give the industry the time to fly a kite on some Brexit dividend proposals. That it overlaps with the sector’s dash to complete the consumer duty project by end April is unfortunate, but any opportunity to progress some of the more archaic practices within the industry should be seized with both hands.
Kevin Doran, managing director of AJ Bell Investments, said: “Top of the list will no doubt be creating a post-UCITS world for UK asset managers, but front and centre ought to be an overhaul of the barbaric relic that is fund administration and – in particular – the fragmented process of buying and selling funds in an era where transacting in ETFs is infinitely easier. Less immediately practical, but equally important issues to discuss will be new technologies such as AI and blockchain and how the industry embraces these on a day-to-day basis.
“As an industry, we should never forget whose money it is we’re looking after. Hopefully, we can take this opportunity to make investing easier for customers. Reducing costs, improving transparency and allowing people to feel good about investing.”
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