It is difficult to explain how bad the article was. It was poorly thought out, badly written, one-sided, took misplaced personal pot shots and, worst of all, was published anonymously.
Richard Saunders is indeed standing down as the IMA’s chief executove but that is about the only part of the entire article that I could agree with.
Here is an example for those of you who may not have read it: “Haven’t heard of the IMA? That’s probably how they prefer it. The IMA is the fund managers’ trade body. Its role is to resist any change that might drag this largely farcical industry into touch with actual competition.”
Another one: “It’s the IMA’s job to ensure that no matter how lousy your savings schemes are performing, the industry shall never be held to account.”
To top the article off it included a ‘situations vacant’ piece that included attributes for Saunders’ replacement such as the “ability to move head vertically rather than horizontally when asked to promote anything desired by the fund management companies who pay your salary”.
It also suggests a skill in mathematics would be helpful – Saunders has a first-class mathematics degree from Cambridge University.
I told you it was bad.
What it does not include is some of the IMA and Saunders’ achievements since he started his role as director general of its predecessor AUTIF (the Association of Unit Trusts and Investment Funds) in May 2001:
- Engaged actively with policymakers over domestic and European legislative proposals, many of which were subsequently improved;
- Developed a code of conduct for disclosure of dealing commissions;
- Developed the ISC ‘statement of principles’, the predecessor document to the Stewardship Code;
- Participated in debates following the publication of the Pensions Commission Report that subsequently introduced auto-enrolment, an idea from the IMA;
- Actively contributed to the comprehensive reform of the rules for the taxation of investment funds in the UK;
- Represented its members’ interests in the development of the Ucits IV reforms of EU investment fund law.
The IMA is far from perfect and, though I have never met him, I doubt whether Saunders is either. But he deserves better than this, an article that is nothing more than a personal attack, and does not address anything substantive.
Enjoy your retirement, Richard!
