Cross-Border Distribution of UCITS

A CACEIS PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT PUBLICATION - 2011

CHALLENGES & OPPORTUNITIES

Graph 21: FPP initial principles

Fund manager

4 INITIAL PRINCIPLES 1 - Accountability Fund managers initiate the process, possibly with the help of a service provider, and guarantee the FPP content accuracy 2 - Flexibility No one size fits all solution 3 - Centralisation Ideally FPP should be collected in one single and central access point at national and European level 4 - Standardisation FPP content should be distributed through automated standardised feed

FPP service provider

Single local golden copy FPP repository operated by a « repository administrator »

Single European FPP directory/database

Source: EFAMA, 2007

B enefits for fund managers and fund distributors

Concurrently, the FPP helps fund managers servicing a wide-ranging client base or striving to distribute their funds more broadly, to address in a cost-effective way the numerous informa- tion requests they typically face from investors and fund distributors interested in their funds. The FPP benefits for fund managers and fund distributors can be summed up as follows:

Table 8: FPP benefits for fund managers and fund distributors

FPP benefits for fund managers

FPP benefits for fund distributors

• Reduces redundant checks • Reduces processing transactions delays • Reduces errors in executing orders • Ultimately reduces cost

• Allows fund managers to deliver higher quality service • Speeds up the order processing • Drives down processing costs • Provides a ready-made solution for addressing distributors’ queries about funds • Opens the way to electronic communications

of operational information about funds • Facilitates order placement, thereby satisfying customer needs and enhancing their loyalty

Source: EFAMA, 2007

A concept still far from being an operational reality More than two years after the launch of the FPP, even though it is widely recognised that such a standard is useful and brings many benefits (information communicated electronically, less time spent collecting information, reduced operational risks, faster order processing), one has to admit that in practice its development in Europe has been less successful than expected. At the time of writing, the common format for fund processing data defined by EFAMA is progres- sively being rolled out but with a relatively slow uptake.

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