New findings from the 4th edition of Monterey Insight UK Fund Report, the independent fund research company, reveal the market shares of all service providers in the UK fund industry.
As at 31st December 2020, fund assets of UK regulated funds reached US$2,583.7bn, a growth of 14.8% compared to last year with a total number of funds and sub-funds coming up to 3,633 an increase of 2.8% from last year.
Equity funds represented the largest asset class by assets (USD$1,210.7bn) followed by mixed equity/bond funds (USD$436.9bn) and index tracking equities (USD$401bn) in third position.
Among the largest fund promoters/initiators of UK regulated schemes, BlackRock Financial Management are leading with total net assets of US$245.7bn, followed by St James’s Place with US$151.4bn and Aviva Investors in third position with US$120.5bn. These same rankings apply to ManCo/AIFM.
For fund administration services (fund accounting) across UK regulated funds, State Street continues to lead in first place ranking by assets (US$565.6bn), followed in second position by BNY Mellon (US$409.9bn) while Northern Trust (US$405.5bn) are ranked third ahead of HSBC in fourth with (US$341.0bn).
The leading administrators by product types are: State Street ranks first with a total of US$356.2bn assets for OEICs and US$179.3bn assets for Unit Trusts, respectively. Northern Trust takes the top position with a total of US$209bn assets for ACS schemes while Baillie Gifford takes the first spot for Investment Trusts with a total of US$35.6bn assets.
Among custodians, this year’s surprise move comes from BNY Mellon moving to first position having the largest assets under custody with US$566.2bn, ahead of State Street (US$539.2bn) and Northern Trust (US$431.1bn) in third place.
The market share ranking by assets of depositaries/trustees ranked NatWest Trustee & Depositary Services in first place for UK regulated funds with a total of US$536.7bn assets, followed by Northern Trust with US$398.5bn and BNY Mellon with US$389.3bn.
In the transfer agents ranking, SS&C Financial Services International (following the acquisition of DST Financial Services Europe) secure first position with total net assets of (US$883.8bn) followed by Northern Trust (USD$346.8bn) in second position and BNY Mellon (US$323.5bn) in third.
Among UK’s professional audit firms, PricewaterhouseCoopers retains the lead position in auditor’s rankings in both number of funds and assets auditing a total of 1,155 funds and sub-funds with a total of US$1,107.9bn in assets. They are followed by KPMG in second position by number of funds with 714 funds (US$422bn) and EY in third position with 671 funds (US$648.9bn).
The amount of new UK regulated schemes and sub-funds launched during the year, amounted to total assets of US$92,7bn from over 230 sub-funds. From this, total assets of US$19.9bn from 106 sub-funds were generated from the creation of entirely new schemes.
Phoenix Group, as a promoter/initiator secured the largest proportion of new business introduced over the year (US$29.2bn in assets), by launching some ever-popular ACS products.
Among UK newly launched regulated fund structures, ACS schemes lead with total assets of US$67.8bn, accounting for 70% of the new business, followed by OEIC schemes, in second position, with total assets of US$16.9bn. Counter wise when it comes to newly launched products by number of sub-funds and OEICs lead with the highest number of new funds launched, with over 160 sub-funds followed by ACS schemes with over 35 sub-funds.
Karine Pacary, Managing Director at Monterey Insight commented: “The numbers revealed in the new 2021 Monterey UK Fund Report show a double-digit growth for the second consecutive year. Considering both the challenges around Brexit and the pandemic during this unprecedented time, the UK fund industry managed positive returns, in the main thanks to ACS products which, as last year, ranked top of the newly launched products. Following on from what has been an extreme challenging year, it will be interesting to see how the UK fund industry will compare to other fund centres and to see what can be brought to the table to make the UK even more attractive as a major fund centre.”
Notification for reference to the reader:
The figures include the following types of collective investment schemes that are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) as at 31st December 2020: authorised contractual schemes, authorised unit trusts and open-ended investment companies. Common investment funds, common deposit funds and investment trusts are also included in this report.
Administrator/Fund Accounting
Our definition of an administrator is the company performing primarily fund accounting duties and TNAV calculation. If the fund accounting is delegated to a third party, we list the delegated firm as the administrator.
Authorised Corporate Director
This includes the listing of authorised corporate director (ACD), authorised fund manager (AFM), authorised contractual scheme (ACS) and authorised unit trust manager (AUTM).
Custodian
Our definition of a custodian is the company carrying the safe keeping of the assets. When the depositary has delegated the safe keeping of the assets to a third party, the delegated firm will be listed as custodian.
Depositary/Trustee
The depositary/trustee rankings include only the listing of appointed depositary/trustee as at 31st December 2020.
Transfer Agent/ Registrar
The transfer agent rankings also include the role of registrar
For more information, please contact: Karine Pacary, Managing Director, Monterey Insight, Tel. +44 (0)20 4526 2940
Email: karine.pacary@montereyinsight.com
Notes to Editors:
Monterey Insight is an independent fund research company that provides comprehensive statistical analysis of the Guernsey Ireland, Jersey, Luxembourg, and UK fund industries: the only complete reference of service providers for all funds serviced in these jurisdictions.
As at 31st December 2020, leading service providers for all funds domiciled in the UK were as follows:
Source: Monterey Insight UK Fund Report 2021