Could Google spell the end of the line for the funds gravy train?

The entry of Google or a peer into the funds industry would come as a welcome shock, says Piper Terrett.

"Don't buy the fund, buy the fund house" is a popular market adage, reflecting the belief that investment managers often do far better out of blockbuster funds than the investors in the fund do. And certainly, recent trends in the industry offer plenty of reason for that kind of cynicism.

Asset managers enjoyed a second successive year of record profits in 2014, says Chris Flood in the FT, buoyed by the largest inflows since the global financial crisis. Overall, the industry's profits rose by 10% to more than €54bn worldwide, according to figures from consultants McKinsey.

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Piper Terrett is a financial journalist and author. Piper graduated from Newnham College, Cambridge, in 1997 and worked for Germaine Greer and for Adam Faith’s Money Channel before embarking on a career in business journalism. 

She has worked for most top financial titles, including Investors Chronicle, Shares magazine, Yahoo! Finance and MSN Money. She lectures part-time at London Metropolitan University and is the author of four books.