LONDON (HedgeWorld.com)–A survey conducted by a former director of the U.K. Financial Services Authority has found a growing appetite among key financial advisers, hedge fund managers and the investment officers of pension funds, for the retailization of that country’s hedge fund market.
The 60 interviews for this survey, conducted between March and May 2003, focused on perceptions of the risks and value of hedge fund investment, while also examining the role of funds of funds and their managers in the possible extension of hedge fund investment to retail customers, according to the sponsors of the survey, RSM Robson Rhodes LLP and Intrinsic Asset Management Ltd.
The survey was conducted and its executive summary authored by Oonagh McDonald, currently a director of Skandia Insurance Co. Ltd. and a member of the Gibralter Financial Services Commission and formerly a director of the FSA.
Ms. McDonald found that her interviewees looked to Ireland, Switzerland, France and Germany for models as to how the United Kingdom might allow wider investment in certain hedge funds.