The Capital Markets Union (CMU) marks its ten-year milestone this year but there was little cause for celebration about it when Funds Europe met with senior managers from four of Germany’s largest asset managers, along with the industry trade body, the BVI, in the summer.
Views from the panel were, variously, that the CMU had been bogged down by bureaucracy, was detached from the practical needs of member states, and as a result, the CMU had failed to achieve scale. This meant that EU market activity still lagged competitors, such as the US.
On a positive note, this panel of heavyweight asset management leaders was confident that the EU Eltif fund structure would help bridge a wider range of investors with private markets – and have a wider positive effect on infrastructure projects. However, a home bias found in infrastructure funds meant that sometimes portfolios were not broad enough geographically with Germany, in particular, losing out as many private markets firms – including German – chose to domicile outside of Germany owing to tax arrangements.
Thank you to the Allianz, Deka, DWS, Union and BVI executives who took part in our Frankfurt event!
