Integration processes of the European market of investment funds from the perspective of emerging markets

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to compare Polish investment funds market to other European coun- tries, with particular reference to Central and Eastern Europe, in terms of market size, funds allocation. Investing in mutual funds is one of the reasons of globalization and integration of financial markets. The integration of financial markets of EU countries is supported by Financial Services Action Plan (FSAP) established by European Commission in 1999. The most important legislative initiatives taken under the FSAP are MiFID and UCITS directives, whose main objective is to raise the level of harmonization of financial services among the countries. UCITS IV directive was launched in Poland on 1 February 2013. The analysis was based on annual reports published by the association EFEMA. The size of Pol- ish investment funds market, as well as other CEE countries, is not comparable to the Western Europe countries. However, the gap is decreasing, we observe in CEE countries high growth rate and trends prevailing in the developed countries. Poland plays a leading role in this process. Poland has the biggest investment funds market among the analyzed group of New Member States, almost four times bigger than the average for the group.