Towards a unified industry

For the past 20 years, US fund managers have been promoting their products in Europe. Yet despite their substantial marketing budgets, their experience and, often, their impressive track records, the actual penetration has often been frustratingly low. Attempts at direct selling have generally come a cropper and, with a few notable exceptions, such as Fidelity, US managers are becoming resigned to having to deal with local distributors, often white-labelling products to get them on the radar screens of local investors. Nonetheless, the enthusiasm from companies such as MFS, SEI, Putnam...