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Ireland as fund domicile continues to flourish despite economic woes
Feb 03, 2011 by Charles Gubert
The net asset value of Irish-domiciled funds is nearing €1 trillion, according to data released by the Central Bank of Ireland.
Total assets stood at an all time high of €963 billion at the end of 2010 – up 29% from the €748 billion recorded in 2009. This increase comes following data from Bloomberg showing that six of the top 10 European fund launches in the past month have taken place in Ireland with assets totalling $3 billion at launch.
“These results emphasise the product solutions, operating efficiencies and distribution opportunities available to the international industry from Ireland delivered by the industry’s excellence, innovation and reach,” said Gary Palmer, chief executive officer of the Irish Funds Industry Association.
Hedge Fund Research’s latest annual report recently revealed that the proportion of the world’s hedge funds domiciled in Ireland doubled to 7.4% between the end of 2009 and the third quarter of 2010. Ireland is also the European domicile of choice to 63% of the continent’s hedge funds.
“The Irish regulatory regime already includes many of the requirements which are being suggested at a European level. All Irish funds, for example, are already required to have a trustee/depositary and are administered and valued by entities already authorised and supervised by the Central Bank of Ireland,” added Palmer.
He also acknowledged Ireland’s service providers had experience in dealing with a wide range of fund structures.
Despite this promise, the Irish economy is in a woeful state. Standard & Poor’s (S&P;) downgraded Ireland’s credit rating on February 2 from A to A-. This is four levels above investment grade and on par with the ratings doled out to Portugal – another teetering eurozone economy – and Botswana. S&P; follows in the footsteps of Moody’s and Fitch who downgraded Ireland’s ratings back in December 2010.
