Cross-Border Distribution of UCITS

A CACEIS PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT PUBLICATION - 2011

CONTEXT

1.2.2 Fund sales to the retail sector

We reported previously that at the peak of the crisis, savings shifted away from funds, but the crisis simply destroyed a lot of wealth, including a lot of financial wealth of European households. As EFAMA reports in its 8 th Fact Book published in 2010, up to the end of 2006, that is to say before the crisis began, the average Euro zone holding of investment funds was stable around 11 to 12 % of the total financial wealth of households. At the end of 2009, that is to say when the industry slowly recovered from its worst days, investment fund penetration in financial wealth was still at 9%, downward from previous years, but not tragically down. Graph 8 shows details of the financial asset holdings by asset type for the Euro zone.

1.2

40% share in percent of total Graph 8: Main financial assets of households in the Euro area 60% 80% 100% 12.0 11.5 10.9 8.9 9.0 11.6 38.0 37.5 38.2 42.5 41.6 38.7 9.2 9.2 9.2 9.8 9.3 10.3 7.2 7.9 7.4 4.1 4.7 6.6

Legend

Currency & deposits Quoted shares Debt securities Investment funds Insurance & pension fund reserve

Understanding the local fund distribution channels is critical before marketing funds in a given country.

20%

32.8

33.6

33.9

34.3

34.7

35.4

0%

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

Source: EFAMA fact book, 2010

However, the situation must be put in context as it varies widely across Euro zone members, as shown in graph 9. Understanding the local fund distribution channels is critical before marketing funds in any given country.

Graph 9: Household direct investment fund ownership in Europe in 2009

11.9

12.0% 12%

11.6

10.9

10.0% 10

9.5 9.4

8.1

8.1

8.0 8.0

8

8.0%

6.9 6.8 6.7

6.2

5.9

6

5.8

6.0%

5.2 5.2 5.0

4.7

4.0% 4%

Share in total financial assets

2

1.8

2.0%

1.2

Share in total financial assets

0.0% 0%

Countries Country

ITALY

SPAIN

TURKEY

GREECE

EUROPE

FRANCE

POLAND

FINALND

SWEDEN

AUSTRIA

NORWAY

BELGIUM

HUNGARY

SLOVAKIA

SLOVENIA

GERMANY

BULGARIA

UNITEDKINGDOM DENMARK

PORTUGAL

CZECHREPUBLIC

Source: EFAMA fact book, 2010

Cross-border distribution of UCITS | page 17