The total value of funds under management and administration in Guernsey set a new record of GBP203.8bn at the end of March, according to the Guernsey Financial Services Commission.
The total value of funds under management and administration in Guernsey set a new record of GBP203.8bn at the end of March, according to the Guernsey Financial Services Commission. The figure represents growth of GBP25.6bn (14.4 per cent) from GBP178.2bn at the end of December and an increase of GBP63.4bn (45.2 per cent) year on year.
‘This is a very good set of numbers,’ says Grant Cameron, chairman of the Guernsey Investment Funds Association. ‘To pass the GBP200bn mark with such stunning increases during the on-going credit crunch demonstrates the robust qualities of Guernsey’s investment funds industry.’
Guernsey open-ended funds grew by GBP2.3bn (3.2 per cent) during the quarter and by GBP12.8bn (21.8 per cent) since the end of March 2007 to reach a record GBP71.5bn. Closed-ended funds increased by GBP2.6bn (3.4 per cent) over the quarter and by GBP22.6bn (40 per cent) year-on-year to GBP79bn.
Non-Guernsey schemes for which some aspect of management or administration is carried out in the island rose by GBP20.7bn (63.4 per cent) over the quarter and GBP28bn (106.7 per cent) over the 12-month period to reach GBP53.3bn.
According to the regulator, the significant increase in the value of these funds over the past year stems from a large number of new non-Guernsey schemes that concluded service level agreements with local administrators since the end of September last year.
Since the launch of Qualifying Investor Funds in February 2005, 191 QIFs have received consent or approval from the commission, including 18 in the first quarter of this year, and a further seven have completed the application process since the end of March.
Up to the end of March, a total of 92 registered closed-ended funds had received approval from the GFSC, including 10 in the first three months of this year, under the regime launched on February 1 last year. A further six registered closed-ended funds have completed the application process since the end of March.
‘These figures demonstrate that while activity is not quite as frenetic as prior to the sub-prime crisis and the subsequent turbulence in the global markets, business flows have remained very strong through the end of 2007 and into 2008,’ says Peter Niven, chief executive of industry promotional agency GuernseyFinance.
‘There is still a strong pipeline of business coming into the island, and there are other substantial flows out there to be won. That is why Guernsey continues to enhance its environment to attract business and market itself internationally as a fund jurisdiction that punches above its weight.’
Peter Moffatt, director of investment business at the Guernsey Financial Services Commission, adds: ‘Following the record level of fund approvals seen in 2007, it is encouraging to see that the levels of new business are holding up well.
‘There is a continuing flow of enquiries and expressions of interest from both new promoters and those with existing Guernsey funds. These figures are evidence, despite global market turbulence, of continuing confidence in the Guernsey investment fund sector.’
