Cortal – the BNP Paribas-owned fund supermarket which pioneered on-line stock trading and fund distribution in France, and now operates in Luxembourg, Italy and other European countries as well – reported 2001 pre-tax profits of Euros 7.7 million, despite a27 percent fall in income from asset management and custody fees and brokerage as investors adopted a cautious approach to markets. Assets under management were down 9 percent to Euros 7.1 billion, four fifths of which are not directly owned securities.
Advocates of e-tailing of funds will be alarmed to hear that Cortal (which has its own e-Cortal platform) is finding the only way to conquer investor reluctance is face-to-face distribution via Investment Shops and Independent Financial Advisors (IFAs.) In all, face-to-face distribution accounted for 26 per cent of savings inflows in 2001.