A message from Chris Cummings
Hello,
As we expected, Autumn 2021 is already proving to be an enormously busy and interesting time, with a number of key debates and questions about the future of the industry coming to the fore. The debate around how we build the right listings environment in the UK and attract high quality and innovative companies to list, continues apace. After extensive consultation with members, we responded to the FCA consultation on Primary Markets Effectiveness last month, making clear that we support the need to improve the attractiveness of the UK as a listing venue by removing some of the disincentives, including on dual-class share structures and minimum free float, and believe the FCA has got the balance right between allowing these flexibilities whilst maintaining investor protections.
We also believe that success will need more than just rule changes - we need to build an eco-system that attracts high growth companies, with the right regulatory and government support. Ultimately, success should be measured not just on the number of companies listing, but also on the quality of those companies, and the long-term sustainable returns they deliver for shareholders. How to best facilitate investment in long term, less liquid assets also continues to be a key topic of discussion. Following on from the government’s call for an investment ‘Big Bang’ over the summer, the Productive Finance Working Group this past month made their recommendations on addressing the barriers into investing in illiquid assets. We welcomed the recommendations and in particular the work done to identify barriers to distributors offering funds with limited redemption opportunities, and the commitment to look closely at allowing the Long Term Asset Fund to be sold to a broader range of retail investors with appropriate safeguards. We look forward to working with policy makers, our members, distributors and other organisations to take forward the report's recommendations. As always we have been making sure that investment management is at the core of discussions as politicians return to Westminster. As well as giving evidence to the Treasury Select Committee on the future of financial services, we have been meeting with the Chancellor, City Minister, Trade Secretary and others to keep our industry front of mind. Closer to home, in September we held the IA’s AGM, where we welcomed seven new board members to the IA board. Alexandra Altinger from J O Hambro Capital Management, Catherine O’Reilly from Fiera Capital, Hassan Elmasry from Independent Franchise Partners, Stephen Cohen from BlackRock, Sean Hagerty from Vanguard Europe, Peter Harrison from Schroders, and Chris Hill from Hargreaves Lansdown, represent a range of firms, big and small, and will help ensure the IA board is representative of our entire industry. At the IA this past month we’ve seen many members of staff returning to the office in greater and greater numbers, and getting to grips with the new hybrid model of work. I’m sure it’s the same in many of your firms. It’s clear to me that now more than ever, getting our workplace culture right, is absolutely vital. We hosted our Culture in Investment Management Forum last month and enjoyed thought provoking discussion aimed at doing exactly that, and we’ll continue to have more to say in this space. In this month’s edition of Nexus, we’re looking at the findings of our latest Investment Management Survey – the comprehensive state of the nation of our industry. We also cover our response to HMT’s Wholesale Markets Review, our guidance on the FCA’s Guiding Principles of ESG, and the latest findings on the positive impact Investment20/20 is having. I hope you enjoy it.
Chris