Fidelity CEO Richards backs new open-ended fund rules - reports

Follows Woodford collapse

CEO of Fidelity International Anne Richards has backed new rules governing the liquidity requirements of open-ended funds in the wake of the 2019 collapse of Woodford Investment Management and the most recent physical property fund suspension.

In an interview with the FT, Richards said the events that led to the collapse of Woodford IM and the December gating of the M&G Property Portfolio raised questions as to "when is an open-ended structure a good structure" for daily liquidity, and new rules should look at how liquidity functions in the event of unusual market conditions. She added that regulators must consider when an open-ended structure may "need to have some mitigating factors around it depending on the underlying assets". In December, the Bank of England proposed that property funds should be prevented from offerin...