Ireland Hedge Fund Services 2012

By Simon Gray – The increase in global regulation of the alternative investment sector, notably the Private Fund Investment Advisers Registration Act in the United States and the European Union’s Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive, have raised the hackles of many members of the fund industry, but the ongoing success of Ireland as a domicile and servicing centre for hedge funds and other alternative vehicles demonstrates that it’s an ill wind that blows nobody any good. »

Anne Dolan, a chartered secretary with Walkers Management Services in the Cayman Islands, argues that it is telling that in the recent case regarding the collapsed Macro Fixed Income Fund, which resulted in a USD111m judgement against the fund’s independent directors, significant weight was given to documentary evidence of board meetings and the way in which these meetings were conducted. »

By Chris DeNigris – Ireland’s role as a hedge fund domicile and service centre continues to strengthen despite the country’s wider economic woes and the problems of its banking sector, as well as the general uncertainty surrounding the solvency of EU countries and the global economic environment. »

By Simon Gray – Last year may have been a relatively quiet year for Ireland’s alternative fund services sector, and 2012 appears to promise more of the same, but “reports of the death of the administration industry are exaggerated”, says Dermot Butler, chairman of Custom House Global Fund Services. And Butler ought to know, as the founder of the Custom House group in 1989, right at the start of the country’s dizzying ascent to become a financial centre of international stature and a hub in particular of the global hedge fund industry. »

By Don McClean and Gavin Byrnes – Service providers in Ireland have consistently provided the asset management industry with the sophisticated solutions required to support the continued development of the business. As the industry has developed and matured over the past 20 years, Ireland has evolved from a small jurisdiction specialising in servicing niche strategies to the market-leading jurisdiction for offshore and domestic alternative funds.  »

By Paul Murray – Ireland was the first jurisdiction within the European Union to establish a regulatory framework specifically for alternative investment funds, and it is already an established domicile in this space. The country’s reputation for sophisticated and robust regulation developed from a focus on areas such as managing conflicts of interest, depositary liability and corporate governance concerns. »