Funds: One third of investment industry executives are unprepared for new EU fund regulations that take effect next week, according to a software firm survey.

One third of investment fund industry managers are not prepared for new EU fund reporting rules, a technology firm survey has found.

The Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive takes full effect this month, but 21% of asset managers and fund service providers said they were “not very ready” for the AIFMD’s “transparency requirements”, while 13% were “not sure”, according to the study by Confluence, which sells fund industry reporting software.

The Confluence poll also found that only 16% of executives were “very ready” and 49% were “somewhat” ready for the rules.

In addition, 30% of managers said “reporting to local regulators” was “the greatest burden associated with AIFMD”, and 28% were still “undecided and looking at all options” for “dealing with AIFMD transparency reporting.”

Alterative investment funds

The AIFMD was introduced in the wake of the financial crisis and Bernard Madoff’s multi-billion dollar Ponzi scheme. The rules, broadly speaking, apply to medium and large non-retail investment funds like real estate and private equity funds.

Confluence said 116 asset managers and fund administration service providers participated in its poll, which was fielded between June 16 and July 1, and released on Tuesday.

Approximately three-fourths of respondents were based in Europe, with the rest in Asia and North America, a representative of the firm told Delano.

AIFMD comes into force on July 22, meaning fund managers and service providers have less than a week to submit license applications to national financial regulators such as the CSSF in Luxembourg.

Some reports need to be filed within 30 days, the firm’s European markets manager, Melvin Jayawardana, said in a press statement.

More on AIFMD can be found in the summer print edition of Delano, on newsstands now.