Fund management chiefs call for Keydata inquiry

25 February 2011 10:14 am | By Natalie Holt

Fund management chief executives have called for an independent inquiry into the failure of Keydata to avoid similar failures in the future.

Chief executives including Cazenove Capital Management’s Andrew Ross and Rathbone Brothers’ Andy Pomfret have signed a letter published in today’s Financial Times calling for a Keydata inquiry to be set up.

Other signatories include Hargreaves Lansdown executive director Peter Hargreaves, Brewin Dolphin Holdings executive chairman Jamie Matheson, Charles Stanley Group chairman Sir David Howard, Fleming Family & Partners chief executive Mark Davies, Smith & Williamson chairman Gareth Pearce, and Vestra Wealth managing partner David Scott.

The letter says the investment management industry supports the general purpose of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.

But it adds that there are concerns about the £326m industry levy, mainly to pay for claims relating to Keydata unit Lifemark, and how it has been allocated.

The letter says: “It is in the interests of consumers, clients, our industry and our indeed our regulators that lessons regarding Keydata’s failure are learned. We therefore urge the setting up of a full and independent inquiry to establish what happened and how it can be avoided in the future.

“With regulatory robustness and reform currently at the top of many agendas it seems appropriate to explore whether improvements might be made in the light of a well publicised failure; an independent review of the circumstances surrounding Keydata’s collapse would help to inform this.”

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