Portfolio managers

Regulatory status

The activities of portfolio managers (2.4.4(11)) comprise, from a regulatory perspective:

• management (3.2.2.4); and

• advice (3.2.2.3); and

• buying and selling as agent and/or arranging deals (3.2.2.1, 3.2.2.2).

Infrastructure rules

All of the infrastructure rules apply (5.2–5.5, 6.3.1–6.3.4, 6.3.6, 6.3.7).

Conduct rules

All of the conduct rules apply (7–11, 13), the only special application being in relation to the so-called second tier best execution obligation (13.2.3.1).

Collective investment schemes

Although ‘establishing, operating or winding-up a collective investment scheme… [and] acting as trustee of an authorised unit trust scheme … [and] acting as depositary or sole director of an open-ended investment company’ is a Regulated Activity (3.2.2.5), MiFID exempts collective investment undertakings … whether coordinated at Community level [i.e. UCITS: 2.6(10)] or not and the depositories and managers of such undertakings’ (RAO, Sched. 3, para. 1(h)). Hence, FSA ‘propose to maintain the… [Pre-MiFID] concessionary treatment of CIS operators’ whereby operators of regulated and unregulated CISs when undertaking scheme management activity … [could take advantage of] modifications in respect of best execution, suitability and order aggregation and allocation … [This regime] applie[d] COB provisions in a CIS environment where there are three parties … the operator, the scheme and the participants… rather than the usual two (firm/customer).