Cross-border fund vendors attribute more than half their assets under management to professional buyers such as institutions, private banks, unit-linked vendors, multimanagers, and other vendors of assembled products, according to a recent report by a Boston-based financial research firm.
The Cerulli report, “European Distribution Dynamics,” looks at cross-border fund vendors in Europe and polls distribution dynamics and Europes emerging professional buyers.
The bank channel accounts for about half of assets gathered by cross-border fund vendors in recent years, according to the survey, with financial advisors accounting for slightly more than one-fourth of the business. Most respondents describe banks as their fastest-growing distribution channel and the one best poised for growth in future years.
The survey looks at cross-border fund vendors in Europe, polling more than 50 business units representing more than 20 cross-border fund vendors in both the US and Europe.
Distribution dynamics are shifting dramatically in Europe, the report found, as vertical integration fades away and the industry starts to separate the manufacturing and distribution functions of fund management.As distributors focus more on creating solutions for clients, they increasingly represent the end client for many cross-border fund vendors, who now sell to intermediaries acting as professional buyers on behalf of their end users.