Threadneedle: The era of fund consolidation has arrived

Asset managers are entering an era of fund rationalisation as cost pressures mark the beginning of the end for oversized product ranges, according to Threadneedle's Nick Ring.

Ring (pictured), head of distribution at the asset manager, said the post-RDR retail investment universe will see smaller firms struggle to compete, while larger firms are unlikely to cling on to the extensive fund ranges of the past. That is in part due to the increased financial costs of maintaining such a large offering of funds, according to Ring. "Fund rationalisation is definitely an initiative we and our competitors are looking at over the next 18-24 months," he said, speaking at the group's investment conference in Stockholm. "There is revenue attached to a fund, even if it...