HSBC is investigating how its global Sicav structures could work in the UK, with a view of eventually launching a UK proposition.
A Sicav is an open-ended collective investment scheme that gets its value by the number of investors in the scheme, therefore the more investors, the more capital is available.
Sicav is an acronym in French for ‘société d’investissement à capital variable’ and these vehicles are common in Luxembourg, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Malta, France and the Czech Republic.
Phil Reid, head of external distribution at HSBC said that some of the best capabilities sit on the Sicav platform and that the firm is making sure it “gets its decisions right” when it eventually launches a UK Sicav proposition.
He added that HSBC is looking at which ones are the best or most appropriate at present.
Mr Reid said: “Some of our best in class strategies across equities and fixed income are part of our global Sicav platform, typically sold to private banks and global asset allocators who prefer their cross-jurisdictional access this structure provides.
“One of the areas we’re considering over the next twelve months is how do we give UK intermediary clients better access to these capabilities given their preference for domestic structures?
“While Sicavs are a key part of our offering and important to global asset allocators, many UK intermediary clients prefer a local structure and we want to ensure we meet that demand.”
Adrian Lowcock, head of investing at Axa Wealth, said that Sicavs are traditionally a western European development as opposed to a British development.
“Different asset managers have taken different approaches to this. Sicavs have become more popular.
“The reason for having them would be to access Western Europe. Some people have gone down that road and some have not.
“A lot of it will depend on how much business you want to do in mainland Europe. It would make sense for HSBC to be looking into this.”
ruth.gillbe@ft.com
