Oliver Murray is wasting no time tackling the issues that he thinks could spell problems for Canada’s $700-billion mutual fund industry.

In particular, Murray, who became the chairman of the Investment Funds Institute of Canada in late September, takes strong exception to point-of-sale proposals from regulators.

Although Murray supports efforts to improve disclosure to investors purchasing mutual funds, he says requirements for a simplified disclosure document to be delivered to clients prior to a mutual fund purchase would give competing products an advantage. With the Joint Forum of Financial Regulators set to impose the new framework this month, IFIC is actively lobbying for another round of industry consultation before any regulatory changes are made.

“No other financial instrument or product on the Canadian marketplace has to have that same requirement,” Murray says. “We think that is fundamentally unfair.

“It doesn’t meet the mandate under which the regulators operate, which is to create a fair and competitive marketplace,” he adds. “It’s not fair, and it’s not competitive.”

Murray is president and CEO of Toronto-based Brandes Investment Partners & Co., which oversees $14 billion in assets under management.

In general, Murray plans to be more proactive in his dealings with regulators. For example, he proposes the establishment of a regular review of mutual fund regulations every three to five years. Although this might take several years to implement, Murray says, such periodic reviews have proven to be effective in other regulated industries, such as the banking sector. “It just seems to us,” he says, “to be practical, pragmatic and prudent to do something like this.”

As part of this proactive approach, Murray plans to take IFIC’s concerns one step higher than the regulatory bodies — to policy-makers. He is set to meet with British Columbia’s Minister of Finance, Carole Taylor, in a few weeks, followed by meetings with provincial finance ministers across the country in an effort to form relationships that could help IFIC influence public policy. Cultivating such direct relationships with politicians is something IFIC has never done before. Says Murray: “That’s a big step.”

Murray also hopes to address the high barriers to entry that the regulatory burden has created in the mutual fund industry during his tenure as IFIC chairman. With rapid consolidation in the industry, he worries the barriers will wipe away smaller firms and hamper innovation.

“Innovation in our business tends to come from smaller players, which leads to more choice for the Canadian investor and creates a more vibrant industry,” says Murray, who took over as IFIC chairman from Robert Frances, president and CEO of Peak Financial Group of Montreal.

Murray has been an IFIC board member for about three years, during which he has seen the trade association change significantly. Four years ago, he admits, he was one of many industry members skeptical of IFIC’s effectiveness.

“There was some criticism of IFIC that it didn’t have the senior decision-makers of the industry on the board,” he says. “So, there was some question about IFIC’s relevancy to the industry.”

But with a reconstitution of the board in the past four years, he says, most members are now CEOs or presidents of industry players.

Murray credits this change to RBC Asset Management Inc. president Brenda Vince — a former IFIC chairwoman who strongly encouraged top industry executives to join the board.

“She was instrumental in getting the more senior voices in the industry,” he says, adding that this has given IFIC more relevance, as well as more respect from regulators. “When you have an industry association such as IFIC that is facing off with regulators across the country, you want to have senior representation on the board and the committees.”

A native of Ireland, Murray has worked in the financial services sector since finishing high school in Dublin. By landing a job with insurance company Irish Life upon graduating, Murray stumbled into a line of work he thoroughly enjoys. “That got me into the financial services industry,” he says, “and got me interested in it.”

Seeking new opportunities in a more robust financial services industry a few years later, Murray left Ireland and settled in Canada. By 1992, he had made his way into the mutual fund industry as vice president of client services at 20/20 Funds Inc., a company that was later acquired by Toronto-based AGF Management Ltd.

@page_break@Murray then moved to Trimark Financial Corp., for which he was chief operating officer prior to the company’s takeover by London-based Amvescap PLC. Subsequently, Murray joined Mackenzie Financial Corp. as chief operating officer.

When Brandes’ Canadian operations were established in March 2002, Murray was its founding CEO. With about 54 employees at the company’s Bay Street office, the position has provided Murray with important experience at a smaller-scale, niche industry player — a contrast to the roles he played at Trimark and Mackenzie.

Murray, 46, will face a busy schedule in his new role at IFIC, along with juggling his responsibilities at Brandes and his favourite pastimes: running and spending time with his 10-year-old son, Michael.

Murray comes into the IFIC job at a time when the investment climate can hardly be termed ideal. But he’s confident the current financial crisis will be an opportunity to display the resilience of mutual funds.

“All of the funds that our industry offers to Canadian investors,” he says, “are professionally managed, well-diversified portfolios that are designed to withstand what’s going on in the marketplace today.

“It certainly feels different this time,” Murray adds. “But there are elements of what we’re going through today that we’ve gone through in many other market corrections and market bubbles in the past.”

Although Murray expects the turbulence to scare some investors away, he says the mutual fund industry has a role to play in fostering confidence. Remembering the fundamentals is crucial, he says, and history shows that investing in equities over long periods of time is the best way to create wealth.

“We have an important job to do,” Murray says, “because the worst thing an investor could do is capitulate on his or her long-term financial plan.”

And at times like these, it becomes even clearer that members of the financial services industry have a moral obligation to fulfil, he adds: “It all boils down to the people who have placed their trust in us and our ability to take care of their money.” IE