Funds see record growth

GUERNSEY will have £100bn-worth of funds under management and administration by the end of the year. GuernseyFinance chief executive Peter Niven made the forecast after third-quarter figures from the Financial Services Commission revealed a 32.7% increase in business in the last 12 months.

Mr Niven said that the trend was continuing.

There had been no let-up in new fund business since the end of September and he was confident that the £100bn mark would be exceeded by Christmas.

'Guernsey's tremendous fund success is not just anecdotal,' he said. 'It is proven quarter on quarter by this incredible growth.

'Our established position as jurisdiction of choice for fund promoters is down to the expertise being provided by Guernsey's fund managers, administrators and other professionals, as well as our flexible and innovative regulatory framework.'

Mr Niven said that a significant amount of the growth over the last two quarters could be attributed to the 20 qualifying investor funds which have been authorised over the last eight months.

'GuernseyFinance and Guernsey Investment Funds Association members are continuing to communicate strong messages about QIFs into the market and there is every reason to expect that these levels of success will continue.'

Mike de Haaff, vice chairman of Gifa, agreed.

'It is very encouraging that the effort that went into the QIF regime earlier in the year has paid dividends.

'It reflects what the Guernsey fund sector can do, together with the regulator, to ensure that we keep pace with the demands on the industry from those people choosing Guernsey as their preferred fund jurisdiction.'

Funds under management and administration grew by £6.7bn over the September quarter to reach a total of £91.7bn, which represented growth of 9.1%.

The value of them grew by £22bn over the year.

The strongest growth was in open-ended funds, increasing in value over the quarter by £2.8bn to £44.4bn. Over the year, the value had risen by 40%.

The value of closed-end funds increased £2.6bn over the quarter, a 10.6% rise.

Non-Guernsey schemes, whereby some aspect of management or administration is done in the Bailiwick, grew 12% to a new record of £19.5bn.