UK fund manager, Threadneedle has become the most successful UK or US fund manager in Germany to date, just eight months after it launched its open-ended investment company (OEIC) marketing campaign in Europe.
To date Threadneedle Investment Funds (TIF), the first UK OEIC launched in Europe, has attracted E146.2m of business, 85% of which (E124.6m) has been sourced from Germany, a notoriously difficult market for non-German players. TIF has also been marketing across Austria, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. Based on current sales in Germany, Threadneedle at end 1998 had secured approximately 2% of the total German equity fund market. Threadneedle is part of the Zurich Financial Services Group and has close links with Zurich -Invest in Germany, though Threadneedle has stressed that the business was sourced entirely from its own European sales force and the assets represent genuine third party business"."