The director general of the European Fund and Asset Management Association (Efama) Peter De Proft is to step down from the pan-European industry body he has headed for 11 years.
De Proft will remain as an honorary director general of the 28-member umbrella association and will take on an advisory function to the new director general during a transition period.
The search for a replacement is now underway with the aim of appointing a new director general in early 2019.
The announcement of De Proft’s departure was made at Efama’s annual general meeting in Cyprus, following which a statement was released saying that De Proft would remain in post until June of next year at the latest.
During the 11 years of his directorship, De Proft led the association and its members through a wave of post financial crisis regulation of the financial services industry.
Since 2007, the total net assets of European investment funds have increased 95% to €15.6 trillion and the association’s Brussels-based secretariat has doubled in size.
De Proft said: “Having led Efama during a period of significant change, I feel proud to say that asset management has evolved tremendously as an industry since the financial crisis, and has reached an impressive level of maturity, with a reiterated focus on the end investor.
“Serving this association and working with such committed colleagues has been a great privilege. I am proud of what we have created and achieved together: an open dialogue with all European institutions and organisations, which will allow for constructive regulation to be implemented in the years to come.”
Efama president William Nott said that De Proft would be missed by all who had worked with him over the past 11 years.
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