GLOBAL – Europe now represents the bulk of global assets in fund-of-funds arrangements, claims Cerulli Associates in their October multi-manager brief, which says that inflows into the investment vehicle have more than doubled during the 18 months to June this year.

Cerulli believes that this is because many European Union (EU) member countries have recently approved locally domiciled fund-of-funds provision, despite little provision for fund-of-funds being made in the Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities (UCITS) legislation, the single passport for mutual fund distribution in Europe reform.

According to Cerulli, large European distributors are looking at fund-of-funds as a means of using top-performing third-party products to reinforce their own brand names.

Overall, multi-manager and fund-of-funds products now account for a combined total of US$569bn (€620bn), a rise of some 42% since December 1999.
Cerulli says it believes this to be the earliest reliable date for data on such products.

Multi-manager assets are growing at a historical compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 27%, which is slightly down on the 29% shown in June last year, the last time Cerulli measured the industry. The five main players (undisclosed) continue to dominate the market, says Cerulli, though several new players are beginning to make inroads.

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