Luxembourg-headquartered asset management firm Ethenea has been the latest company to announce it will take on the costs of external research to funds – rather than charging its clients – ahead of the implementation of Mifid II at the start of January 2018.
Ethenea is following the same path traced out by some of its main competitors which have already announced they will be paying for all investment research on behalf of its clients.
The non-exhaustive list includes BlackRock, BNP Paribas Asset Management, Union Investment, AXA Investment Managers, Franklin Templeton Investments, Deutsche Asset Management, Allianz GI, JOHCM, Unigestion, Kempen, Flossbach von Storch AG, Hermes, Aberdeen Standard Investments and BlueBay Asset Management.
Thomas Herbert, head of asset management at Ethenea, said: “While we will continue to utilise select external research where it benefits our clients, the decision to absorb those costs is a logical step in strengthening our partnerships with our clients.”
