In 2020 the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) engaged Deloitte Access Economics to undertake an independent study on competition in managed funds. This study examines the structure, conduct and performance of the managed funds industry. It seeks to understand the effectiveness of competition within the industry and to identify indicators of market power or exclusionary conduct. The Interim Report has recently been released and Deloitte are seeking comments from industry which will be used to inform the final report.
Managed funds are a type of collective investment, where a fund manager pools together money from multiple investors to invest and control on their behalf. Investors may be individuals, private institutions or governments. Managed funds provide a vital economic function within Australia’s financial services sector, representing $2.3 trillion in consolidated assets. Although personal investment portfolios held by individual Australian households only directly represent around 6% of the industry, individual Australians indirectly hold an interest in around 50% of the industry through institutional superannuation.
Managed funds directly impact the economic wellbeing of Australia’s domestic economy as well as that of individual investors. An uncompetitive market is associated with poorer consumer outcomes. In commissioning this research, ASIC hopes to find areas for improvement in competition, which may provide substantial benefits to investors. Submissions may address findings within the report, methods used, and the areas identified for further investigation. Please download the Interim Report in full.
Deloitte requests that submissions be sent to fundsmgmtreview@deloitte.com.au by the 9th of April 2021. If stakeholders would prefer non-attribution they should mark their submissions as commercial-in-confidence, in whole or in part. It is expected that the final report will be presented to ASIC in June 2021.
This article was written with information taken from Deloitte.