The watchdog for Canada’s mutual fund dealers is searching for ways to be less burdensome on its members, as increased regulation and changing investor demands reshape a maturing business.
In the 11 years since the Mutual Fund Dealers Association of Canada (MFDA) opened its doors to regulate fund sellers, its membership has fallen by nearly half, from 220 firms to just 115 today. Most of those firms are small; 84 of them have less than $1-billion in assets under administration.
Much of the decline is due to mergers of companies that say the high cost of MFDA compliance and regulation makes it inefficient to run a small fund dealer. While the MFDA’s remaining members have grown over the past decade, mutual funds have also grown significantly outside of the regulator’s purview.
Janet Mcfarland & Jacqueline Nelson – Globe and Mail – December 29, 2013.
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