Some 61% of London AIFMs feel the AIFMD has opened up new opportunities in Europe, according to research by KNEIP. By contrast, only 35% of New York AIFMs agree with their European counterparts.

The research also shows that Luxembourg firms share London’s sentiment, as well over half of firms based in the region agree that the AIFMD has been beneficial in opening new business opportunities in other European markets, thus demonstrating a contrast to the way the AIFMD has benefited non-European and European firms.
 
The findings come from a survey, now in its third year, of AIFMs domiciled in New York, Luxembourg and London, conducted by KNEIP, regulatory reporting and investor disclosure experts.
 
Mario Mantrisi, Senior Advisor to the CEO at KNEIP, Member of the Executive Board, says: “While compliance with the AIFMD has not come without its challenges, it is encouraging that EU firms already perceive its benefits. Regarding Non-EU AIF’s, granted the regulation is in its early stages and that they have no access to the passport yet, their distribution remains a complex country by country process.
 
The results also showed that the AIFMD is still draining resources for London firms internally as 44% still feel the AIFMD distracts them from core business functions, an increase of 10% from April 2014. As a consequence, 65% of London firms have employed more staff to cope with AIFMD (48% in Luxembourg and 68% in New York).
 
Incidentally, the survey also revealed that outsourcing specifically for AIFMD reporting related functions is much higher in London than New York and Luxembourg, 67% of London AIFMs reported that they have outsourced AIFMD reporting functions, while New York and Luxembourg have only outsources 28% and 38% respectively.
 
Mantrisi says: “Some elements of the reporting have presented particular challenges such as the requirements around risk calculations in the Annex IV reports. Also, extracting all the relevant data from across the business and from third parties has been extremely time consuming. But if firms put in place the on-going data management processes that are required for this complex regulation, in time the process will become less of a headache for the industry resulting in smoother submissions to regulators."