The European Ucits brand is a seal of quality recognised in
financial centres the world over, spanning from Asia to the
Americas. The widespread appeal of Ucits-compliant funds exists
notwithstanding the significant additional compliance burden that
is pinned onto Ucits-compliant managers. This is a success story
that began in 1985 and has undergone three subsequent and
significant amendments, with another one, possibly two, in the
regulatory pipeline.
Each amending directive brought more flavour to the initial and
somewhat restrictive Ucits framework. What initially started off as
a framework for retail collective investment schemes pursuing
plain-vanilla equity and bond strategies gradually evolved into a
platform for the development of investment strategies that are more
akin to those sought by hedge funds. The Product Directive
(Directive 2001/108/EC of 21 January 2002) broadened the scope of
"eligible assets" to include Financial Derivative
Instruments,
