Alternative investment fund managers appear unprepared for next week’s final deadline for compliance with the EU’s Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD), in a survey conducted towards the end of June, with 47% of firms still not having filed.

The one-year transitional period following implementation of the AIFMD, in which some alternative investment fund managers were given time to get authorisations in place, ends on 22 July.

The survey by fund structuring firm Alceda and research firm Kepler Parters polled 56 alternative asset managers between 23 May and 30 June.

At that point, 47% of respondents said they has still not filed under the directive, and only 32% said they were ready for the AIFMD.

Some 19% said they were planning to submit an application before 22 July, and 13% were still unsure about their intentions, according to the survey.

Georg Reutter, partner at Kepler Partners, said: “It’s clear the general understanding of the implications of AIFMD on the alternative fund management industry is low, with 41% of respondents to our survey stating that they have a limited understanding.”

In particular, the survey showed that alternative asset managers with headquarters outside Europe could be “sleepwalking into the unknown”, despite the potential impact on their business, he said.

The directive brings alternative investment funds – mainly hedge funds and private equity firms, but also some real estate funds – under EU regulatory supervision.

It was drawn up to correct a perceived lack of financial regulation for hedge funds and private equity funds, seen by some as having exacerbated the global financial crisis.

Authorisation under the AIFMD means fund managers will be subject to a range of new requirements in areas such as due diligence, risk and liquidity monitoring, reporting, disclosure and marketing.

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