Man Group, the UK’s largest listed hedge fund manager, has reversed its previous decision that it would charge clients for external analyst research once the second iteration of the EU’s Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID II) comes into force in January.
The change of policy means that the firm will, for most of its strategies, follow the majority of investment firms and instead absorb the costs of broker research onto its own balance sheet, at an estimated annual cost of up to $15 million (€12.6 million).
Similar u-turns in charging for research have been made in recent weeks by Schroders and Janus Henderson.
French giants Amundi and BNP Paribas, which are both now reviewing their decisions, as well as Carmignac, Deka and Fidelity International are among a minority of firms that say they will pass on research costs to investors.
The announcement was made in the Man Group’s third quarter results published on Friday which showed a 7.9% rise in assets in the three months to September 30 on the back of market gains and net inflows and a 28% year-on-year rise in AuM to $103.5 billion (€87.4 billion).
The FTSE 250 firm also announced a new $100 million share buyback and said it would continue to review “further potential acquisition opportunities”.
News of the financial results and the share buyback led to a 4% rise in the group’s shares on Friday.
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