Cost, charges and convergence
In the latest of FBC’s Digital Meetings, fund governance experts from the UK, Ireland and Luxembourg examined key governance themes across Europe and assessed their implications for asset managers and their fund boards.
Whether looking over the Liffe, musing over the Moselle, or trapped by the Thames, investment fund boards and their independent directors in the major money centres across Europe are at the sharp end of an increased focus on investment governance by regulators, and with it, a drive towards greater transparency and independence of investment governance and value for investors.
This was underlined recently by the announcement of a cost and charges consultation from European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) – which some in the industry suggest could be a first step towards the requirement for more formal value assessment, a topic that has been occupying directors and executives in the UK for some time. In this fifth FBC Digital Meeting since April, we packed our (virtual) bags for the near Continent and gathered together industry and fund governance experts from the UK, Ireland and Luxembourg to explore, discuss and debate some of these themes, and assess what they are going to mean for asset managers and their board who operate across multiple fund jurisdictions. We were delighted to be joined by London-based Philip Warland, chair of FBC’s Advisory Council and till recently a regular Bruxellois, Dublin-headquartered Margaret Cullen, an investment governance specialist and Irish iNED, Sheenagh Gordon-Hart, the usually Luxembourg-based seasoned asset management professional turned fund board iNED with a portfolio of board roles, and Martyn Gilbey, Franklin Templeton’s UK county manager, fund board chair and senior industry professional, attending on this occasion from West Sussex. FBC members can now view a recording of the discussion via their Member Portal.