Unbundling Uncovered London 2025

Shift to CSAs: The consensus among European asset managers is that a CSA-driven approach to paying for research will become the norm by 2026, a significant shift from previous scepticism, although the absence of deadlines and the complexity of the change means that this shift has no definite timeframe.

Regulatory Ambiguity: Despite the overall direction, the differences between rules in the various jurisdictions, and, in the UK and Europe, what exactly is eligible for CSA funding, is seen as a primary roadblock to immediate, widespread adoption.

Transparency and Feedback: The importance of transparency in research valuation and broker voting continues to grow, as both buy side and sell side firms emphasize that open dialogue is key to demonstrating value and building trust, although there is still some disagreement about precisely how much information needs to change hands and emerging tensions on the subject of exactly how research is delivered and consumed with regards to datafeeds, LLM, attribution and IP protection.

Technology and AI Integration: AI and automation are enhancing the efficiency of research discovery, but human insight remains crucial. There is a growing trend of integrating research and market data procurement teams, reflecting the increased use of massive data sets and deep data mining enabled by AI. This sits alongside a general recognition that AI is not only improving productivity, it is changing the research landscape. Many are noting that checks and balances will be required.

Corporate Access: Despite consensus that Corporate Access is a critical part of the research process, it sits outside the current payment conversations and is perceived as undervalued in the UK and Europe. Selective executive travel post-COVID remains in place and virtual meetings account for a large majority of total interactions. 

Collaboration: The industry is moving towards greater collaboration, with shared infrastructure and common standards seen as necessary to accelerate progress in a rapidly evolving market. 

Overall, panelists indicated that while the shift in the regulatory landscape, which softens previous MiFID II unbundling rules, is welcomed, practical implementation challenges remain, and firms are currently in the process of operationalising these changes. There was also a broad recognition that technological innovations are changing the industry and will continue to do so, potentially in ways that are not yet known.

Singletrack

Published: 03/12/2025