Boston Financial Data Services, a financial services provider, released the results of its 4th Annual Financial Intermediary Administration Survey of mutual fund companies on Thursday.
The 2014 survey, which was designed to provide insight into how the industry is addressing the challenges of financial intermediary oversight related to shareholder activity, found that 94% of respondents considered legal and regulatory risk far and away the greatest concern faced by fund companies — down only marginally from 2013.
Of particular note this year, 71% of survey respondents identified reputational risk as an increasing area of attention, up from 63% last year. Fifty-nine percent identified financial risk a chief concern, about the same as in 2013.
In addition, approximately 70% of survey participants said their fund boards had intensified focus on FI-specific oversight and management activities in the last year.
Effective intermediary oversight is clearly perceived as a serious need at the board level, according to Mike McNeill, managing director of Boston Financial's Financial Intermediary Administration business.
