The U.K. Competition and Markets Authority plans to publish a provisional decision report on its investigation into investment consultants and fiduciary managers by July 2018.
In 2017, the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority asked the CMA to investigate possible market concentration and the distortion of competition among investment consultancy and fiduciary management services that advise pension funds.
The CMA said it has held site visits to three large investment consultants — Aon Hewitt Investment Consulting Inc., Mercer Investment Consulting LLC and Willis Towers Watson Plc.
Further, the watchdog has held initial hearings with investment consultants, fiduciary managers and asset managers, during the investigation.
The CMA said it will focus its investigative work on pension schemes, which are the key clients for investment consultants. Charities, insurance companies and endowment funds have been excluded from the investigation, since institutional investors such as these represent merely 6.5% of business and 9.1% of assets on which investment consultants advise.
