Ryan Hughes, interim AJ Bell Investments managing director, comments on the government’s plans to reform UK retail investment disclosure rules:
“News today that the government and FCA have moved to allow investment trusts to temporarily ignore the current cost disclosure requirements will be warmly welcomed by both the investment trust industry and broader market participants.
“Investment trusts play a hugely important role both in the financial services sector and the wider economy as a provider of capital and the unintended consequences of the current legislation created an unequal playing field that put investment trusts at a disadvantage and threatened, in some cases, their very existence. The removal of this unnecessary barrier will help the investment trusts sector regain its footing and allow them to compete equally against other investment structures, which will put them back on the radar for investors who have been reluctant to use them given the cost disclosure requirements.
“At a time when the government is looking to encourage investment in the UK and to encourage private capital to drive economic growth, the removal of any barriers that could hold this back should be viewed positively.”