Following in the footsteps of T. Rowe Price, ETF giant Vanguard, and Rathbones Unit Trust Management, among others, the Swiss boutique fund group confirmed on Thursday that it would pay for all external investment research on behalf of its clients.
Under the new Mifid II rules around “research unbundling,” which come into effect on 3 January 2018, investment managers must decide whether to pay for external research from their own profit & loss or charge clients directly through a research payment account.
There are a number of fund groups who have not yet publicly disclosed whether they will take on additional research costs, including Europe’s largest investment manager Amundi, Henderson, Man Group, Invesco and Schroders.
Unigestion stated its decision to absorb all the costs itself was “consistent with the firm’s core value of always putting its clients first” and would allow for transparency around costs and charges.
It added the decision will not result in any change in management fees.
Fiona Frick, CEO of Unigestion, commented: “Our clients are at the heart of everything that we do and the reasons behind our decision to pay for all research ourselves go beyond regulation.
“It is quite simply the right thing to do to ensure that we continue to give our clients the clearest picture of how and why they are being charged for our products, alongside safeguarding them from any potential conflicts of interest in providing best execution.
“Both our bespoke in-house research and the research provided through external providers are integral to our investment process. We will continue to use them both in tandem to deliver the best possible investment solutions and returns to our clients globally.”
