AUM definition for subscription purposes
AUM is requested as at 30 June
We request members' total UK AUM figure twice annually:
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as part of the annual Investment Association subscription call (as at the end of June), and
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as part of the Asset Management Survey (as at the end of December)
This figure covers all assets where the day-to-day management is undertaken by managers within the firm and based in the UK. By managers we mean the individuals who undertake portfolio/ discretionary asset management decisions. The figure should refer to AUM publicly reported, on the basis of economic exposure rather than the underlying physical assets.
As such the focus is on the location of the manager, and not on the location of the client, the fund domicile or the relationship management.
The AUM figure includes:
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Assets managed by your firm in the UK whether for UK or overseas clients contracted with your firm, e.g. if Firm A manages in the UK £10bn on behalf of a UK local authority client and £40bn on behalf of a US pension fund client, both figures should be included in Firm A’s total UK AUM
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Assets delegated to your UK-based asset managers by either third party asset managers or overseas offices of your company or group, eg. if Firm B’s Japan-based parent group contracted and/or serviced in Japan £15bn of corporate client assets, £10bn of which was delegated for management in the UK to Firm B, we would expect only the £10bn to be included. Likewise, if Firm B contracted in the UK £15bn of corporate client assets, £10bn of which would be delegated for management to Ireland, Firm B’s total UK assets under management should only include the £5bn in assets that continue to be managed in the UK
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Assets in pooled vehicles, irrespective of domicile location, whose asset management is undertaken in the UK, eg. if Firm C manages £20bn in pooled vehicles domiciled in Luxembourg, of which £18bn were managed in the UK, we would expect the £18bn to be included in Firm C’s total UK AUM.
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Assets managed in the UK through fund-of-funds or manager-of-managers products, including where you are the manager (see below for how double counting is avoided), eg. if Firm D managed in the UK a £5bn fund-of-funds or manager-of-managers product, of which £3bn was invested in funds/other products managed by Firm E, Firm D should only include the £2bn invested in its in-house managed funds. Please note that to avoid double counts we ask members not to include the size of the fund-of-funds or manager-of-managers product itself.
The AUM figure does not include:
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Assets delegated by you to third party managers or your own overseas offices
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Assets in UK-domiciled pooled vehicles that are managed outside the UK Assets, where the relationship is managed in the UK, but the managers are located overseas
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Assets of clients that are serviced in the UK, but the asset management (exercise of discretion) is undertaken overseas
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The size of fund-of-funds or manager-of-managers products themselves. As mentioned above, we would only expect you to include the size of the underlying funds managed by your UK-based managers.
Comparison with FCA’S A007 figure
The IA’s definition of UK AUM ought to correspond with the FCA’s A007 Funds under Management figure in all but three respects:
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Group assets: In contrast to the Investment Association, the FCA’s A007 figure excludes assets managed within the firms’ own group consistent with the exclusion contained in article 69(5) (Groups and joint enterprises) of the Regulated Activities Order
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Assets managed outside UK: The Investment Association’s definition of UK AUM only includes assets managed by managers regulated in the UK. This is unlike the FCA’s A007 figure where, consistent with Note (e) on FuM, the location of the manager may not be relevant
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Liability Driven Investments: LDI mandates are defined as approaches where investment objectives and risks are calculated explicitly with respect to individual client liabilities. In line with market practice the IA is now using the notional value of LDI assets, including overlay assets, to monitor LDI investment. Please therefore ensure that the actual value of LDI mandates, including overlay assets, is accounted for and included within your AUM submission.
