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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Mendelsohn on 2016-05-04.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they track the performance of the fund management industry; and if so, whether they have identified any examples where managers have been able to reduce costs and passed those reductions on to investors.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

The Government is committed to the principle that people who have worked hard and saved should have access to appropriate and accessible investment options and understand the charges that they face. We appreciate the efforts that industry have made to fulfil this aim.

Since last April, the Government has ensured that trustees of defined contribution pension schemes report charges levied on members in schemes used for auto enrolment.

We are also engaging with international work on transparency, such as the legislation agreed at European Union level through the Packaged Retail and Insurance Based Investment Products (PRIIPs) and Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID). MiFID II will introduce new measures to increase transparency of research costs for clients of portfolio managers. Under these new measures, portfolio managers may only pay for research through their own funds or from a specific research payment account funded by its clients and subject to specific controls, including a research budget.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is also currently conducting a market study into asset management, which covers the issue of whether the level of fund management fees charged to consumers reflects a competitive market. We await the FCA’s assessment of competition in this sector. The FCA expect to publish an interim report in summer 2016 and a final report in early 2017.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Mendelsohn on 2016-05-04.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to legislate to ensure that all fees charged to pensioners by fund managers are made publicly available monthly, including transaction and research costs and all other costs that investors bear.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

The Government is committed to the principle that people who have worked hard and saved should have access to appropriate and accessible investment options and understand the charges that they face. We appreciate the efforts that industry have made to fulfil this aim.

Since last April, the Government has ensured that trustees of defined contribution pension schemes report charges levied on members in schemes used for auto enrolment.

We are also engaging with international work on transparency, such as the legislation agreed at European Union level through the Packaged Retail and Insurance Based Investment Products (PRIIPs) and Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID). MiFID II will introduce new measures to increase transparency of research costs for clients of portfolio managers. Under these new measures, portfolio managers may only pay for research through their own funds or from a specific research payment account funded by its clients and subject to specific controls, including a research budget.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is also currently conducting a market study into asset management, which covers the issue of whether the level of fund management fees charged to consumers reflects a competitive market. We await the FCA’s assessment of competition in this sector. The FCA expect to publish an interim report in summer 2016 and a final report in early 2017.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Mendelsohn on 2016-05-04.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether the level of fund management fees charged to consumers reflects a competitive market, in the light of the variable performance of such funds.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

The Government is committed to the principle that people who have worked hard and saved should have access to appropriate and accessible investment options and understand the charges that they face. We appreciate the efforts that industry have made to fulfil this aim.

Since last April, the Government has ensured that trustees of defined contribution pension schemes report charges levied on members in schemes used for auto enrolment.

We are also engaging with international work on transparency, such as the legislation agreed at European Union level through the Packaged Retail and Insurance Based Investment Products (PRIIPs) and Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID). MiFID II will introduce new measures to increase transparency of research costs for clients of portfolio managers. Under these new measures, portfolio managers may only pay for research through their own funds or from a specific research payment account funded by its clients and subject to specific controls, including a research budget.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is also currently conducting a market study into asset management, which covers the issue of whether the level of fund management fees charged to consumers reflects a competitive market. We await the FCA’s assessment of competition in this sector. The FCA expect to publish an interim report in summer 2016 and a final report in early 2017.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Mendelsohn on 2016-05-04.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to take steps to encourage fund managers to take research costs out of their management fees, rather than deducting those costs through additional fees.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

The Government is committed to the principle that people who have worked hard and saved should have access to appropriate and accessible investment options and understand the charges that they face. We appreciate the efforts that industry have made to fulfil this aim.

Since last April, the Government has ensured that trustees of defined contribution pension schemes report charges levied on members in schemes used for auto enrolment.

We are also engaging with international work on transparency, such as the legislation agreed at European Union level through the Packaged Retail and Insurance Based Investment Products (PRIIPs) and Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID). MiFID II will introduce new measures to increase transparency of research costs for clients of portfolio managers. Under these new measures, portfolio managers may only pay for research through their own funds or from a specific research payment account funded by its clients and subject to specific controls, including a research budget.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is also currently conducting a market study into asset management, which covers the issue of whether the level of fund management fees charged to consumers reflects a competitive market. We await the FCA’s assessment of competition in this sector. The FCA expect to publish an interim report in summer 2016 and a final report in early 2017.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Mendelsohn on 2016-05-04.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the initiative at Woodford Investment Management to publish monthly all the costs that investors pay.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

The Government is committed to the principle that people should have access to appropriate and accessible investment options and understand the charges that they face. We appreciate the efforts that industry have made to fulfil this aim.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is conducting a market study into asset management, where such issues fall under its scope. The FCA expect to publish an interim report in summer 2016 and a final report in early 2017.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Mendelsohn on 2016-05-04.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to legislate to introduce voting thresholds that empower shareholders in the operations of public companies in relation to executive pay.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the noble Lord.