New figures released by Ireland’s Central Bank show that its fund industry’s total assets under administration have reached a record level of EUR1.8 trillion; up from EUR1.2 trillion year-on-year. Assets of Irish-domiciled funds totaled EUR899 as of end-August representing a 20 per cent increase for the year, and a healthy 27 per cent increase year-on-year. With a 12.5 per cent corporate tax rate, Ireland is seen as an attractive fund centre, particularly for those offshore fund managers that are considering whether or not to onboard their investment strategies via a UCITS-III wrapper. Indeed, according to the Irish Fund Industry Association’s (IFIA) latest factsheet, total assets of Irish-domiciled UCITS funds have increased from EUR597 billion in 2009 to EUR716 billion as of end-August this year: up 20 per cent. IFIA Chief Executive Gary Palmer (pictured) told Hedgeweek via email: “As an industry our role is to provide opportunities, solutions and efficiencies for internationally distributed investment funds and the results reported by the Central Bank, while extremely welcome, simply highlight that the excellence, innovation and distribution reach of the industry in Ireland is recognised to be of increasing assistance to the international industry.”