7. The Road to a Fund, Step by Step
“The road from an idea to a registered externally managed fund takes several months. It is not rocket science, but project management — partners, documents, CNB (the Czech National Bank).”
Key points
Who needs to be at the table (fund partners):
- Fund manager — a licensed investment company responsible for management and regulatory compliance.
- Fund administrator — accounting, NAV calculation, reporting, CNB filings (the fund manager often also acts as administrator).
- Depositary — a bank that holds the assets and monitors cash movements.
- Auditor — mandatory audit of the fund’s financial statements.
- Lawyer / tax adviser — fund statute, structure, tax setup.
Diagram: indicative fund establishment timeline
The entire process normally takes several months. The externally managed route (registration in the register) is significantly faster than obtaining a full licence for a self-managed fund.
Fund managers (investment companies) are relatively capacity-constrained in 2026 — the process may take longer.
Costs — what is paid and when
A) One-off (launch of an externally managed fund):
Note: A self-managed fund must obtain CNB authorisation. Preparation should also be expected to take approx. 18–24 months.
B) Annual (operation of one externally managed fund / sub-fund):
Where a fund has multiple sub-funds, the costs more or less add up (there are no economies of scale).