European mutual funds have embraced outsourcing different types of services, according to new research from the SWIFT Institute.
The paper was produced for the SWIFT Institute by Douglas Cumming of York University, Armin Schwienbacher of Université de Lille and Feng Zhan of John Carroll University.
Based on over 13,000 mutual funds domiciled in Europe, this study shows outsourcing is very common; 12 percent of funds use external advisors, 41 percent use external administrators, 45 percent use external transfer agents, and 58 percent use external custodians, and all funds outsource to external trustees and auditors.
In addition, the paper has shown that outsourcing is less common among funds managed through banks, Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities funds and institutional funds.
The study also found mixed evidence on the performance implications associated with outsourcing.
Peter Ware, director of the SWIFT Institute says: "This latest research from the SWIFT Institute gives a comprehensive analysis of outsourcing by mutual funds and some of the issues, challenges and benefits.”
“Most academic research to date has been focused on the US mutual fund space and on middle/back office outsourcing. This is one of the first studies that looks at Europe, and takes into account outsourcing of front office activities, such as advisory services."
