Mifid II  

Mifid II fallout over fund research fees predicted

"Now that the investment banks are to become quasi-“independent” providers, we’ll compare their research offering with our existing providers", he added.

Over the past few weeks, many fund management houses have announced they will absorb any external research costs. 

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JO Hambro Capital Management (JOHCM) was the latest to say it would pay for external research used by its fund management teams, when the Mifid II reforms come into force. 

Ken Lambden, chief executive of JOHCM Group, said: "The new Mifid II regulations increase the level of transparency around the cost of research services, and we feel under these regulations the direct payment of this cost is in the best interests of our clients."

According to Mr Lambden, the funding of JOHCM's external research is expected to be approximately £5m a year.

Also in August, US-listed T Rowe Price Group announced it would be paying for the third-party investment research used by its UK-based investment manager, T Rowe Price International.

Earlier this year, sister paper Investment Adviser reported that a quarter of fund managers were expected to absorb research costs, including Hermes and Woodford Investment Management.

Jackie Beard, director of manager research services for Morningstar, said: "From a financial adviser's point of view, one of the considerations for them to focus on is which houses are passing on the research costs to investors, and which are not." 

simoney.kyriakou@ft.com