SCM Direct and True and Fair Campaign’s co-founder Gina Miller has commented on the Summary Review of The Financial Conduct Authority Asset Management Market Study, which was published last week, declaring it to be a milestone In UK investors being treated fairly.
Miller says: “Credit where credit’s due. This FCA paper is a comprehensive and well-founded analysis exposing the various dishonesties that have been plaguing the UK investment and pension industry for decades.
“The FCA has rightly exposed lack of price competition in active funds, the failure to pass on economies of scale, hidden transaction costs, GBP109 billion of closet index funds, near useless broker ‘buy lists’, the crucial importance of increased transparency and standardisation of costs and charges, the 0.6 per cent pa underperformance of active funds, and numerous conflicts of interest operating within fund managers, pension consultants and pension trustees that result in detrimental outcomes for prudent, hard-working savers and investors.
“We are pleased that their findings serve to confirm the numerous concerns we have been vocalising through our True and Fair Campaign for the past four years.”
The SCM statement says that the firm hopes that large fund groups and their trade body will finally stop defending the indefensible and work to address, rather than avoid, the insidious practises identified.
Alan Miller, CIO and co-founder of SCM says: “The FCA paper clearly shows that the Investment Association (IA) recent paper ‘Hidden Fund Fees: The Loch Ness Monster of Investments?’ was a shamefully amateurish and wholly misleading piece of industry propaganda, not worth the paper it was printed on.
“The report is great news for UK investors and good news for the UK investment and pension industry. SCM sincerely hopes the inevitable self-interested and anti-consumer lobbying by the industry and its conflicted industry bodies ahead of the February 2017 consultation deadline will be unreservedly rejected.
“It is our view that this FCA report is a game changer and marks a cultural revolution, for both the Regulator and the sector, that will effectively restore the UK to the gold standard of consumer savings and investment products and protection, internationally.”
