Euro Fund Execs Lobby for Single Market

The chief executive officers of 14 major pan-European asset and fund management companies have teamed up in a new forum to push their case for a single EU cross-border investment market, Reuters reports.

"Despite years of effort, a single market for asset management has not yet fully materialized, and it is Europe's savers who are paying the price in higher costs and restricted choice," Nicolas Moreau, chairman of the management committee of the Forum of European Asset Managers (FEAM), said in a statement.

FEAM's aim is to facilitate discussions between senior industry executives and government entities about the merits of a single cross-border asset management market. FEAM's management committee, which will meet quarterly to assess the progress of its various working groups, appointed Thomas Balk, president of European mutual funds at Fidelity International, as vice chairman. Balk will become chairman in January 2006.

Other members of FEAM's management committee include Johann Goldbrunner, member of the of the board of management of Allianz Global Investors, Alan Ainsworth, deputy chairman Threadneedle Investments, and Matteo Perruccio, chief executive officer of Pioneer Investment Management.

The other founding members of FEAM are: Aberdeen Asset Management, ABN Asset Management, Aegon Asset Management, Capital International, Fidelity International, Fortis Investment Management, JP Morgan Fleming Investment Management, State Street Global Advisors and UBS Global Asset Management.

The staff of Money Management Executive ("MME") has prepared these capsule summaries based on reports published by the news sources to which they are attributed. Those news sources are not associated with MME, and have not prepared, sponsored, endorsed, or approved these summaries.