ESMA_QA_2770
Status: ✅ Answer Published
Link to ESMA Q&A tool: https://www.esma.europa.eu/publications-data/questions-answers/2770
Regulatory Context
Regulation : UCITS
Level 1 Regulation: Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities Directive (UCITS) Directive 2009/65/EC
Level 2 Regulation: UCITS - Directive 2010/43/EU on organisational requirements, conflicts of interest, conduct of business, risk management and content of the agreement between a depositary and a management company
Level 3 Regulation: Performance Fees - Guidelines on performance fees in UCITS and certain types of AIFs - ESMA34-39-968
Topic: Costs and fees
Subject Matter: interpretation of the condition ”… as long as this would be in the investor’s best interest (i.e. it would result in the investor paying less fees).”
Question
Submission Date: 12 February 2026
May I ask you for further clarification of your answer to ESMA_QA_774.
Q1 : The example in your answer shows the very specific example of deducting the performance fee from excess performance before calculating the performance fee. The example is not the the normal calculation described in the first bullet point where the performance fee is not deducted from excess performance for calculating the performance fee. Correct?
Q2: The normal calculation described in the first bullet point where the performance fee is not deducted from excess performance for calculating the performance fee means that also a possible performance fee accrued until the day before (D-1) is not deducted from excess performance because otherwise the mathematical incorrectness which I described in my question still exists for the current performance fee calculation period (usually the fiscal year of the fund) with the false result just not including the false effect for the day of calculation (D). Correct?
Q3 In your answer you formulated the example where the performance fee is deducted from excess performance for the calculation of the performance fee as follows: EXAMPLE: According to the prospectus, the Management Company will receive a performance fee, equivalent to 9% of the positive net earnings of the fund. However, as you showed in your mathematical expression the actual, resulting performance fee is not 9% but 8,26%. As I mentioned in my question normal business as well as legal understanding of “x% of something” always means that the result of x% is not deducted from the something before calculating the “final” x%. Wouldn’t the a.m. wording of the example be the right description for the performance fee calculation without deducting the performance fee from the earnings before calculating it; and the correct wording for the mathematical expression you showed rather be for example the Management Company will receive a performance fee, equivalent to 9% of the positive net earnings of the fund after that performance fee is deducted from the net earnings so that the actual performance fee is 8,26%?
ESMA Answer
Answer Date: 12-02-2026
No answer has been published yet for this question.
This document was automatically extracted from the ESMA EMIR Q&A database.