The main and permanent work of a fund management company is to manage the assets of a fund established as a company or a contractual fund. A management company may manage several funds. Alongside fund management, the management company may provide the following services:

• managing a securities portfolio;
• investment advice;
• holding fund units or shares for clients;
• fund management services within the meaning of the Investment Funds Act for funds whose assets it does not manage.

A license is needed to operate as a fund manager, and this is issued and can be withdrawn by Finantsinspektsioon of Estonia.

Small fund manager is a fund manager which manages, either directly or indirectly through a company linked thereto by common management or control or qualifying direct or indirect holding, alternative funds which:

• volume of assets, including all the assets of the funds acquired by use of leverage, in total does not exceed 100 million EUR; or
• volume of assets in total does not exceed 500 million EUR provided that the portfolio of the alternative funds consists of unleveraged alternative funds and the right to redeem the units or shares cannot be exercised within five years after the date of making investments in each alternative fund.

Small fund manager has two options in order to operate:

• obtaining the license in FSA
• obtaining the registration with FSA and FIU