Research unbundling is expanding to the US and Asia, and is mostly seen as positive for end investors, although bad for brokers, according to a new survey carried out by RSRCHXchange.
The poll conducted by Survation, on behalf of RSRCHXchange, surveyed research unbundling which came into effect on January 3rd 2018 across Europe as part of the second Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID II).
The 2018 survey reveals a consensus view that unbundling is going global. Some 83 percent of respondents in the US think unbundling will take effect within the next four years and 53 percent of respondents in Asia expect it to take effect within two years.
The smallest firms said change will come through regulation, whereas those in the largest firms stated it will be global compliance policies that will be the root cause of the global proliferation.
The survey found that attitudes to unbundling in Europe are generally negative but most respondents said it is positive for end investors, although negative for research providers and mixed for asset managers themselves.
Some 78 percent of respondents within Europe thought unbundling was bad for brokers whereas 53 percent felt it was a good thing for investors.
The survey was conducted in Q2 2018 and asked 418 respondents from over 30 countries, representing over 350 firms with over $30 trillion of assets under management in aggregate.
The third in a series from RSRCHXchange, the survey followed on from similar polls carried out in Q2 2017 and Q4 2016.
Jeremy Davies, co-founder of RSRCHXchange, said: “In our third survey, we wanted to explore the globalisation of unbundling, especially now that it is live in Europe. With over 80 percent of US respondents expecting unbundling to impact their local market within four years, unbundling will be trending for years to come.”
He added: “As it stands today, more than 100 of our client firms are based in the US and so are more than 20 percent of the 350 plus research providers using our RSRCHX platform. “
Vicky Sanders, co-founder of RSRCHXchange, commented: “Our survey was conducted just months after MiFID II came into effect, the biggest change to the research space in decades. It’s clear that its impact has already been felt in this short time but that there is more the industry needs to do to adhere to the rules and adapt to these changes.”
