Implementing investment strategies in the Channel Islands 2010

By Simon Gray - The financial crisis and economic downturn of the past three years has fundamentally changed the rules of the game for the international financial services industry in general and the fund sector in particular. The laissez-faire philosophy that prevailed in many countries throughout the boom years of the mid-2000s has given way to a new focus on transparency and oversight at the insistence of governments, regulators and, not least, investors. »

An interview with CISX chief executive Tamara Menteshvili - Over more than a decade, the Channel Islands Stock Exchange has provided essential supporting infrastructure for the financial sector in Guernsey and Jersey. In the investment fund industry, the exchange is central to the process of capital-raising from investors and to oversight of funds through the disclosure requirements of the listing regime. »

By Ed Devenport (pictured) and Gavin Farrell - The past couple of years have seen a striking change in the type of work carried out by fund lawyers in the Channel Islands. Up to 2008, around 80 per cent of our activity involved the establishment of new structures, and the rest was recurring business. The liquidity crisis caused a substantial slowdown in the number of new products, but at the same time a huge increase in restructuring and other work involving existing fund vehicles.  »

By Simon Gray - In a global environment where managers of classic alternative investment strategies are having to work harder than ever to attract capital from wary investors, members of the industry in the Channel Islands say the jurisdictions are benefiting from a burgeoning international reputation for broad-ranging expertise that is particularly attractive to promoters of innovative strategies and exotic asset classes. »

By Ross Youngs - In the current global environment, managers and regulators are focusing determinedly on the substance of activities in offshore financial jurisdictions, the quality of service providers and the ability to deliver increasingly complex business with the requisite regard to risk. Jersey and Guernsey are well placed to thrive, thanks to genuine intellectual capital, effective and flexible regulation, good technological infrastructure, robust operating models and experience built up over decades. »