Abstract
Overview
Introduction
Sizes each channel in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK 2006. In
addition, the report assesses regulatory developments, the growing role of the
Internet, third party distribution trends, developments in the financial
advice market and compares fee structures across the markets covered.
Scope
- Sizes the distribution channels of mutual funds in five major European
markets using FERI FMI data.
- Draws on data from the Datamonitor European Third Party Funds Survey 2006,
covering 262 wealth managers across Europe.
- Pan-European assessment of fee structures, regulatory developments and
financial advice markets.
Report Highlights
Third party distribution is now common across Europe, with the majority of
retail banks and wealth managers offering third party funds and even more
planning to in the next two years. There is significant variation in the
proportion of third party fund distribution by retail banks and wealth
managers across Europe.
Fund supermarkets are beginning to take off in the UK but struggling in the
rest of Europe, however they are successfully developing in line with the
needs of both business clients and private investors. Investor confidence will
determine the development and success of fund supermarkets as a distribution
channel directly serving private investors.
Regulation on a Europe-wide basis has focused recently on the creation of an
effective "single market", removing existing obstacles to foreign funds in
European countries. UCITS III has ensured that issues such as tax
discrimination are less of an issue for European cross-border funds but
country approval on funds remains a stumbling block.
Reasons to Purchase
- Distributors: an indispensable industry profile analysing key distribution
channels and their potential to help underpin strategic planning
- Providers: identify and assess the potential of particular channels for
fund distribution and how to satisfy the demands of banks/financial advisors
- Support strategic initiatives by identifying the most important funds
related regulatory developments across Europe and their potential impact
Table of Contents
- CHAPTER 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
- Introduction
- The distribution landscape
- Regulatory developments
- The role of the Internet
- Third party distribution
- The financial advice market
- Fees and charges
- CHAPTER 2 INTRODUCTION
- What is this report about?
- Who is the target reader?
- How to use this report
- CHAPTER 3 THE DISTRIBUTION LANDSCAPE
- Introduction
- Key findings
- Distribution across Continental Europe is dominated by the retail banks
- French retail mutual fund distribution is becoming increasingly
diversified
- Banks maintain their control of overall distribution
- Sales through institutional or corporate channels represent over a
quarter of all French distribution
- The IFA channel is not making a significant impact on the
distribution landscape
- Insurance wrapped mutual funds are a large part of the French market
- Banks distribute the majority of Publikumsfonds in Germany
- The German market is diversifying but is still bank-centric
- Banks have a firm grip on the distribution of mutual funds
- The insurance channel has gained in importance despite pressure from
banks
- IFAs and other advisors remain a significant channel for the
distribution of mutual funds
- Fund supermarkets and the direct channel are relatively insignificant
- The retail banking sector's mutual fund sales account for two thirds
of the entire distribution market in Italy
- IFAs and insurers have benefited from recent changes in customer
behavior
- Other channels continue to make minimal impact on the market
- Banks alone account for over 90% of all Spanish retail mutual fund
distribution
- The density of the branch networks are the key to the success of the
retail banks
- Other channels are a marginal presence in the Spanish market
- Unlike in the rest of Europe, intermediaries dominate mutual fund
distribution in the UK
- IFAs have historically dominated the distribution of mutual funds
- Retail banks have had varied but generally little success in selling
mutual funds to their client base
- Other channels have seen their market share drastically reduced
- Data Tables
- CHAPTER 4 REGULATORY DEVELOPMENTS
- Introduction
- Key findings
- Regulation is changing mutual fund distribution across Europe but there
are still several barriers to a 'single market'
- UCITS III allows more innovation but funds still require country
approval
- Since the instigation of UCITS III tax discrimination has become less
of an issue within the EU
- France and Germany in particular had been guilty of discriminating
against foreign UCITS
- Italy and the UK were both guilty of tax discrimination
- Tax discrimination has been tackled by the European Commission
targeting the main offenders
- The European Fund Categorization Forum seeks to redress the lack of a
standardized Europe-wide fund classification system
- Rules for the financial advice market are evolving across Europe
- The French financial advice market has undergone major changes
- Regulation is likely to have mixed benefits for the German financial
advice market
- Depolarization is reshaping the UK financial advice market
- CHAPTER 5 THE ROLE OF THE INTERNET
- Introduction
- Key findings
- The growing popularity of online banking across Europe has led to the
development of online mutual fund distribution
- Online banking is common among Europeans with Internet access
- Technology and increasing Internet usage has driven the development of
online distribution
- Several models of online mutual fund distribution have become successful
- Fund supermarkets are beginning to take off in the UK while struggling
to establish a foothold in the rest of Europe
- Fund supermarkets have developed according to the needs of customers
in the market
- Many fund supermarkets have become a tool for intermediaries
- Private investor confidence will determine whether fund supermarkets
develop into IFA tools or become more customer-focused
- Wrap platforms are an important aspect of indirect distribution
- Online discount stockbrokerages have developed in America but have yet
to make an impact in Europe
- Banks and IFAs are often intermediaries for online mutual fund
distribution channels
- CHAPTER 6 THIRD PARTY DISTRIBUTION
- Introduction
- Key findings
- In just a few short years the distribution of third party funds has
become the norm across Europe
- There is significant variation in the proportion of third party fund
distribution by retail banks and wealth managers across Europe
- Third party distribution is prevalent in the Belgo-Dutch region,
particularly through the retail banking network
- Third party distribution in France is much more prevalent among the
country's wealth managers
- Only 40% of France's largest retail banks offer third party mutual
funds today
- While almost 90% of wealth managers in France offer third party
funds and/or use external fund managers
- A significant proportion of German retail and private banks do not
offer third party funds
- The private banking sector in Germany is more receptive to third
party fund distribution
- Open architecture is slightly more prevalent among Italian private
banks than Italian retail banks
- The Nordic region currently has the lowest proportion of private banks
offering third party funds of the regions surveyed
- Third party fund sales in the private banking channel is widespread in
the Spanish market
- Third party fund sales in the UK are below the European average in
both the retail and private banking markets
- CHAPTER 7 THE FINANCIAL ADVICE MARKET
- Introduction
- Key findings
- Germany has, by far, the largest intermediary market in Europe
- Germany's financial advisors are not held in high public regard
- In the UK, 40,000 individual financial intermediaries distribute 47% of
retail unit trusts and OEICs
- Despite the high degree of development, depolarization is likely to
trigger changes in the UK market
- In comparison with the UK and Germany, France has a very small and
undeveloped financial advisory market
- Asset managers are the most important non-bank source of financial
advice in France
- While the Spanish and Italian advisory markets are fairly big, they are
strongly tied to the retail banks
- Independent advice is dwarfed by the strength of the Spanish retail
banking networks
- There are 35,000 financial advisers in Italy, the third largest market
in Europe
- In the Nordic region financial advice does not come from an IFA
equivalent but other financial services professionals
- CHAPTER 8 FEES AND CHARGES
- Introduction
- Key findings
- Transparency in fees and charges was the trend for 2005
- Guidelines for reporting fees was introduced in Europe in 2005
- The UCITS III directive, including the introduction of a simplified
prospectus that disloses fees, was phased in across Europe in 2005
- Investors will benefit from standardized disclosure
- In the UK investors are able to view TER charges on funds, although
many funds retain a traditional pricing structure
- No load unit trusts are still not the norm in the UK
- Annual management fees on mutual funds in the UK range from 0 to
2.15%
- The UK's Premier Resolution Growth fund has a whopping 4.75% TER
- There is more variation in French fees and charges than in those of
the UK
- French front-loaded fees vary considerably, with 344 charging 6% or
more
- French annual management fees have a greater range than those of the
UK
- The German market is generally considered to be a level playing field
in the application of fees to funds
- Some German funds have fees applied on an ongoing or end basis
- Management fees and front loads are not generally high
- Italian funds offer investors a wide variety of fee structures
- Front loading is polarized as some are among the highest in Europe
while many other funds are not front loaded at all
- Italian management fees are average for the major European markets
- Spanish investors prefer not to pay fees up front
- Front loading has therefore not taken off in the Spanish market
although other fees remain low
- Management fees for Spanish funds peak at 3%
- CHAPTER 9 APPENDIX
- Further Reading
- Global Wealth Management SPP
- Interactive Databases
- Market Reports
- Strategic Insight Reports
- Wealth Management Competitor Tracker
- Datamonitor Asia Pacific Wealth Management SPP
- Savings and Investments SPP
- Interactive Databases
- Reports
- Briefs
- Life and Pensions SPP
- Interactive Databases
- Reports and Briefs
- Financial Advice Market SPP
- SPP writing team
- List of Tables
- Table 1: Major markets by distribution channel 2006
- Table 2: Almost 80% of wealth managers in Belgium and the Netherlands
already offer 3rd party funds to their clients, January 2006 (Table 1 of 2)
- Table 3: Almost 80% of wealth managers in Belgium and the Netherlands
already offer 3rd party funds to their clients, January 2006 (cont'd:
Table 2 of 2))
- Table 4: Dexia is the only major retail bank in Belgium and the
Netherlands not to offer 3rd party funds to their clients, January 2006
- Table 5: Within two years only Credit Agricole will be among the major
retail banks in France still closed to 3rd party funds, January 2006
- Table 6: Nearly 90% of wealth managers in France already offer 3rd
party funds to their clients, January 2006 (Table 1 of 2)
- Table 7: Nearly 90% of wealth managers in France already offer 3rd
party funds to their clients, January 2006 (cont'd: Table 2 of 2)
- Table 8: Only 60% of the main retail banks in Germany offer 3rd party
funds to their clients, January 2006
- Table 9: Nearly three quarters of the wealth managers in Germany offer
3rd party funds to clients directly through their private banking
divisions, January 2006 (Table 1 of 3)
- Table 10: Nearly three quarters of the wealth managers in Germany
offer 3rd party funds to clients directly through their private banking
divisions, January 2006 (cont'd: Table 2 of 3)
- Table 11: Nearly three quarters of the wealth managers in Germany
offer 3rd party funds to clients directly through their private banking
divisions, January 2006 (cont'd: Table 3 of 3)
- Table 12: Almost 90% of wealth managers in Italy offer 3rd party
funds, January 2006 (Table 1 of 2)
- Table 13: Almost 90% of wealth managers in Italy offer 3rd party
funds, January 2006 (cont'd: Table 2 of 2)
- Table 14: Only 2 of the main retail banks in Italy do not offer 3rd
party funds, January 2006
- Table 15: Only 60% of wealth managers in the Nordic region offer 3rd
party funds directly through their private bank, January 2006 (Table 1 of
2)
- Table 16: Only 60% of wealth managers in the Nordic region offer 3rd
party funds directly through their private bank, January 2006 (cont'd:
Table 2 of 2)
- Table 17: Almost 70% of retail banks in the Nordic region offer 3rd
party funds, January 2006
- Table 18: 70% of retail banks in Spain offer 3rd party funds, January
2006
- Table 19: 90% of wealth managers in Spain offer 3rd party funds
directly through their private bank, January 2006
- Table 20: 63% of retail banks offer third party funds, January 2006
- Table 21: 70% of wealth managers in the UK offer 3rd party funds
directly through their private bank, January 2006 (Table 1 of 2)
- Table 22: 70% of wealth managers in the UK offer 3rd party funds
directly through their private bank, January 2006 (cont'd: Table 2 of 2)
- List of Figures
- Figure 1: Retail banks control a relatively small share of mutual fund
distribution in France
- Figure 2: Distribution in Germany is slowly diversifying but is still
controlled by the banking networks
- Figure 3: Retail banks' sales alone account for almost two thirds of
mutual fund sales in Italy
- Figure 4: The retail bank is the dominant channel for the distribution
of mutual funds in Spain
- Figure 5: Almost half of all mutual funds sold in the UK are sold
through IFAs
- Figure 6: Efforts to standardize the European fund market have made
progress in some areas but others remain an issue
- Figure 7: The growth of online banking has driven online distribution,
which itself has led to greater take-up among customers
- Figure 8: The majority of wealth managers and retail banks across
Europe already offer 3rd party funds, but most of those who don't, don't
plan to in the next 2 years
- Figure 9: 90% of wealth managers in Spain offer 3rd party funds
directly through their private banks today, but only 60% of Nordic wealth
managers do
- Figure 10: In France a minority of the main retail banks offer 3rd
party funds today
- Figure 11: Three quarters of wealth managers and more than 80% of
retail banks in Belgium and the Netherlands offer third party funds to
their client bases
- Figure 12: A minority of French retail banks offer third party funds
while private banks are far more likely to distribute them
- Figure 13: 60% of retail banks and 72% of wealth managers in Germany
offer third party mutual funds today
- Figure 14: A high proportion of both retail banks and private banks in
Italy offer third party funds
- Figure 15: 65% of retail banks and just over half of private banks in
the Nordic region offer third party mutual funds
- Figure 16: 71% of retail banks and 90% of private banks in Spain offer
third party mutual funds today
- Figure 17: 62% of retail banks and 67% of private banks in the UK
offer third party mutual funds
- Figure 18: UK IFAs have by far the largest market share relative to
other European markets, while German advisers vastly outnumber those in
other markets