Managed Funds Association ⏐ supporting alternative asset managers around the globe

Managed Funds Association serves as the voice of the global alternative asset management industry, with its membership including hedge funds, credit funds, and crossover funds. We spoke to Jillien Flores, Head of Global Government Affairs, about growing investor demand for alternative investments and the importance of the UK in helping drive global financial regulation.

Tell us more about Managed Funds Association and how it supports the global alternative investment management industry?

MFA is the trade association that represents global alternative asset managers such as hedge funds, private credit funds and other types of alternative investment strategies. We have about 170 manager members spanning all sorts of different strategies within the alternative space. The members of our organisation that we represent are in the United States, UK, EU, and other global financial centres around the world.

Our mission is to advance the ability of alternative asset managers to raise capital, invest, and generate returns for their beneficiaries. We also serve as a convening function to bring the industry together. We share interests and conversations, and we have global conferences as part of our organisation as well.

Collectively our members manage about £1,800bn. Many of our members are US headquartered although about half have a significant London presence and we also have members that are UK headquartered.

The investment management talent in London is really second to none. Our members see that as a real attraction to being on the ground in London.

As an organisation representing large commercial investment managers in the US, how important is the UK market to you and your members?

The UK market is very important for a few different reasons. There is of course the market itself and the activity that is happening in London and the investments that are being made in London.

In addition, there is such a rich talent pool. The investment management talent in London is really second to none. Our members see that as a real attraction to being on the ground in London.

It's an exciting time in alternative asset management and some of the larger traditional asset managers are increasingly investing their skills and time into serving investors with alternative products. It is a recognition that the ability to diversify one’s portfolio really does hinge upon the ability of alternative asset managers to thrive. We are on quite an upward trajectory in terms of market share and that is happening around the globe. Right now the US, the UK and the EU are critical markets for alternative asset managers.

London is a global financial market centre and it is sending messages around the globe that it will take balanced and reasonable approaches to capital markets policy.

How important is it for you to have a physical footprint in the UK and how do you see the future of your operations in the UK and internationally?

We want to be on the ground where our members are. MFA has been active in the UK for a very long time but we wanted to  have a more sustained presence. So we opened an office in London earlier this year. Now we can more closely engage with policymakers, be increasingly responsive to the needs of our members, and generally be part of the local ecosystem.

Our members are committed to operating in London. We have found that this is a really important time to engage with UK policymakers and to help them think about how to keep London a preeminent global capital market centre.

London is a global financial centre and is sending the message around the globe that it will take balanced and reasonable approaches to capital markets policy. This impacts not just the ecosystem on the ground in London but also has a knock-on effect on other jurisdictions, encouraging their policymakers to think similarly.

This is something we feel very strongly about and we have had a really wonderful experience working with HM Treasury, the Financial Conduct Authority and the Bank of England. It is critically important for us being able to feed into that with our own expertise and that is just harder to do from afar.