02/11/17

New Report Provides a Snapshot of the Guernsey Funds Sector

(LowTax) -- Guernsey's funds industry has enjoyed "a positive and diverse year" so far, says the latest edition of the Guernsey Fund Report from independent fund sector researcher Monterey Insight, looking also at the major forces at play in Guernsey.

It reports that the number of serviced schemes had increased from 990 to 1,018 for the year to the end of June 2017, while the total number of sub-funds had risen from 1,317 to 1,363. The value of fund assets serviced in Guernsey has also risen, standing at USD396.6bn, up 2.8 percent year on year.

At sub-funds level, 180 fund and sub-funds were launched during the one-year period, accounting for USD22.3bn in assets. 75 of those funds were private equity funds, with total assets of USD13.6bn, representing 61 percent of the new product launches.

Karine Pacary, Managing Director of Monterey Insight, said Guernsey continues to be an attractive and influential financial center, having seen positive returns in the last year, despite a challenging European funds environment. "While private equity is a crucial element to Guernsey's success, we have seen that other types of products launched during the year have a more accelerated growth rate in comparison to private equity. This reflects Guernsey's ability to offer a variety of expertise and tailored fund services for a range of financial products," she said.

For fund administration services of both domiciled and non-domiciled funds, Northern Trust is still the largest administrator by total net assets (USD63.9bn), with Ipes (USD48.9bn), and Apax Partners (USD40.3bn) ranked second and third, respectively.

Northern Trust remained the largest provider of services for funds being administered from Guernsey, for both domiciled and non-domiciled funds, but BNP Paribas Securities Services leapfrogged Kleinwort Benson to become the second-largest provider.

Among legal advisers, Carey Olsen was the largest, advising 729 funds, followed by Mourant Ozannes (220) and Ogier (88).

Among fund management companies, the largest promoter of funds serviced in Guernsey is Apax Partners with USD41.3bn. A switch in the ranking took place for the second and third position, as this year Cinven took the second place with USD21.4bn ahead of Partners Group USD19.1bn.

PwC maintained its position as the leading fund auditors in Guernsey, auditing 372 funds, ahead of KPMG (298), EY (133), and Deloitte (127).