A full unbundling of equity research costs from execution commissions could wipe 20% to 30% from the asset management industry's profitability, according to new research that comes as regulators' intensify their focus on the issue.

The European Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II, known as MIFID II, has proposed a ban on paying for certain research using dealing commissions, with The UK's Financial Conduct Authority earlier this year backing those proposals.