ASX plays down funds listing

The ASX is playing down reports that it is proposing to make thousands of managed funds available directly to investors.

A spokesperson for the ASX says reports in the last couple of days of the ASX's intentions to list thousands or all managed funds are "absurd".

"Firstly, all it is at this stage is an idea," the spokesperson says. "The important point about this is that we are looking for more funds to list in the same way that we'd want more companies list on the company stock exchange."

"The notion that the ideas are well advanced is wrong. These are very early days and while we believe it's a good idea, we are now at the stage of seeing whether it can evolve into a proposal."

He says that the ASX is in early stages of talking with financial planners and fund managers about the viability of such a move. So far the ASX has received positive feedback.

The problem with the media stories to date, he says, is that they assume that because there are thousands of managed funds in Australia, then that means the same numbers can be expected to list on the ASX.

"The thing to remember is that we can't force people to list. In many cases it's not going to be appropriate for a fund to list. There's no way a fund will list if it's not worth their while," he says.