Requirements for investment committees and the affiliation of fund managers of asset management companies: the AMF updates its policy

Investment committees: some fund managers can be based overseas

Asset management companies can have fund managers domiciled in France or, using the European passport system, in a branch established in another Member State of the European Union or in a country which is a party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area.

To facilitate the global expansion and investment strategies of specific asset management companies, which may require a local presence of some of their fund managers, the AMF's policy outlines criteria for fund managers. These criteria address situations where members of investment committees, responsible for collective investment decisions, may not necessarily be residents of France or established within a branch in another European Union member state or a country within the Agreement on the European Economic Area. The operating conditions of the decision-making bodies (such as an investment committee or a management committee) responsible for taking investment decisions on a collective basis are as follows:

• The operating rules of this decision-making body are formalised in its programme of activities (voting members, quorum rules, chairmanship, etc.);
• The fund managers are affiliated to the asset management company in accordance with the procedures set out in the section below;
• More than half of the fund managers actually involved in the investment decision are resident or physically present in France or in a branch of the asset management company established in another Member State of the European Union or in a State party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area.

The location requirements for fund managers with sole discretion to make investment decisions remain unchanged. 

Opening up the procedures for affiliating fund managers to an asset management company 

According to the current policy, fund managers must be affiliated to an asset management company by means of an employment contract, a corporate mandate or a secondment agreement. The AMF points out that fund managers can also prove that they are affiliated to an asset management company by means of an agreement stipulating that the natural persons concerned and the services they provide are under the control and authority of the asset management company in accordance with its programme of activities.

These updates are accompanied by clarifications to the effect that the asset management company remains responsible for compliance with all rules applicable in the countries where the managers are established, as well as with French rules, in particular with regard to labour law and tax law.

To help professionals understand the changes to the policy, a revised version will also be published.