Research budgets plunge as asset managers implement unbundling rules

By Neasa MacErlean

Asset managers are cutting their research budgets by an average of 20 to 30 per cent, according to an FCA survey of 40 institutions as part of its  review of the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive’s (MiFID II) research unbundling rules. The regulator now believes that its previous estimate of annual savings to investors of £180 million is a “conservative” figure.