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Ireland Funds Industry tops US$2.7 trillion


New findings from Monterey Insight, the independent fund research company, reveal the market shares of all service providers in Ireland’s funds industry.

Ireland fund industry continues a steady growth of 4.2% reaching US$2,713.4bn at the end of June 2016 up from US$2,605.1bn. The total number of sub-funds reached 7,969 (an increase from the 7,283 of the previous year) of which 4,637 are domiciled in Ireland. The number of Irish domiciled funds has grown by 7.7% since 2015 when the total of funds was 4,304.

The amount of new Irish schemes (and their sub-funds) launched during the year stood at US$19.8bn and over 190 sub-funds.

For fund administration services across both domiciled and non-domiciled funds, State Street Fund Services has maintained the largest market share for fund assets under administration (US$741.7bn), with BNY Mellon (US$462.7bn) ranked second. In third position is Northern Trust (US$354.9bn) followed in fourth position by JP Morgan (US$253.0bn).

Among custodians for both domiciled and non-domiciled funds, as last year, State Street Custodial Services have the largest assets under custody (US$666.3bn), ahead of BNY Mellon Trust Company (US$408.0bn) and Northern Trust (US$ 341.9bn).

Tadhg Young, head of Global Services Ireland for State Street commented: “In a constantly changing environment, asset managers are looking for new opportunities. At State Street, we put our clients front and centre of everything we do and partner with them to explore new territories and products. We are very proud to maintain and further strengthen our position as the leading provider of fund administration and custody services in Ireland.”

PwC maintains its dominance for funds serviced in Ireland in auditing a total of 2,686 funds, followed by KPMG with 1,519 funds and EY with 1,206. On the non-domicile market share ranking, PwC, KPMG and EY are very close, auditing respectively 556, 553 and 538 sub-funds.

Olwyn Alexander, Asset & Wealth Management Leader, PwC Ireland, said: "We are delighted to continue our market leading position as Ireland's No. 1 auditor to the asset management industry in Ireland yet again this year. PwC Ireland audits funds with in excess of US$1.3 trillion in net assets. We are also really proud to continue to lead in all categories - domiciled and non-domiciled, by assets and by number of funds, which is testimony to our depth and expertise in both mainstream and alternative funds. PwC estimates that assets under management in Ireland have the potential to grow to in excess of US$3.7 trillion by 2020. We remain confident about the industry's future growth capacity. There are some uncertainties arising from unexpected global political decisions and sluggish economic growth in Europe and other parts of the world and cost pressures. However, the enduring low interest rate environment and expansive monetary policy, combined with the retrenchment of banks from funding in certain areas, shifts in global investment patterns to passive and alternatives where Ireland punches well above its weight, and indications of a push for infrastructure spend and hopefully a moderation in regulation in the US gives plenty of cause for optimism going forward. As a leading fund administration centre, the industry must respond to these seismic changes. We have a proven, world class, pro-business environment topping the EU league of business friendly tax regimes and a highly skilled talent pool making us especially attractive to global asset managers. As a nation we need to ensure that we remain competitive, and that we prioritise investment in housing and infrastructure. "

Among legal advisers, Maples and Calder maintained its first position for funds serviced in Ireland providing legal advice to 1,488 funds, closely followed in second place by Dillon Eustace (1,112 funds).

Barry McGrath, Head of Investment Funds, in Maples and Calder’s Dublin office commented: "We are delighted to be ranked as the number one legal adviser to Irish-serviced funds for the fourth year in a row. Maples also advised on more new fund launches than any other firm for the seventh consecutive year, including a current 32% market share of all ICAVs. Our extensive offering includes global registration services (UCITS and AIFMD), listing, fiduciary and hosted management solutions and our innovative product development and expertise sets us apart in the industry as true market leaders."

However, for Irish domiciled funds, Dillon Eustace kept its lead (1,035 funds) taking top spot ahead of Maples and Calder (950 funds).

Andrew Bates, Partner and Head of Financial Services & Asset Management Division, Dillon Eustace commented: “Dillon Eustace are delighted to continue as the leading legal adviser to Irish regulated funds during the past year. The significant addition of funds advised by Dillon Eustace reflects the hard work done on behalf of our clients by the experienced and dedicated team of fund lawyers working at Dillon Eustace. In addition, as our clients’ fund business in Ireland expands they continue to recognise the expert advice available to them in other practice areas at Dillon Eustace including regulatory and compliance, banking and capital markets, tax, employment, real estate and regulatory investigations.”

With respect to the legal advisers’ market share ranking by assets, Matheson leads the ranking for both Irish domiciled and serviced funds with US$617.1bn followed by Maples and Calder with US$418.4bn.

The ranking of promoters remains the same as last year: the largest fund promoter of Irish domiciled schemes is BlackRock Financial Management having increased their total net assets by 7.2% to US$426.4bn, followed by PIMCO US$108.0bn, and in third position Insight Investment US$104.7bn.

This year’s enhancement to the Monterey Insight Report has been the introduction of Management Company/AIFM providers. Among Irish Schemes including Irish UCITS and Irish Non-UCITS BlackRock Asset Management in Ireland takes first position with a total net assets of US$426.4bn, followed by PIMCO Global Advisors, Ireland (US$108bn) in second and Goldman Sachs Asset Management Global Services based in the UK (US$95.8bn) in third.

Money market funds continue in first position with an increase of 2.8% to US$533.5bn having dropped in assets last year. Equities remain in second position despite a decrease in assets this year down to US$346.3bn from US$381.7bn in 2015. In third position we have Bonds with a slight increase from US$34.1bn in 2015 to US$345.6bn. Areas of considerable growth in 2016 are in exchange traded bonds which increased by 28% compared to last year and secondly in alternative investment with an increase of 20%.

Karine Pacary, Managing Director at Monterey Insight commented:

“Irish Funds industry shows a very healthy growth in 2016. All indicators are up despite a year of unexpected and uncertain events and, at times, very volatile markets. We are happy to reveal the full results in the 22nd edition of the Monterey Ireland Fund Report. Ireland managed to attract over USD 19.8bn in newly launched Irish funds which again proves the attractiveness and dynamism of its fund industry.”

Notification of mergers and name changes:

The following mergers and name changes took place:

  • From March 2016, part of GAM Fund Management administration business is delegated to State Street Fund Services. In order to reflect the true picture of both businesses, we have split their entries as per NAV calculation duties

  • Previously Invesco Global Asset Management business delegated the administration function to BNY Mellon. For this year’s report, we will reflect the assets within BNY Mellon’s direct business to be consistent with the above

  • UBS Irish administration business was acquired by MUFG Fund Services. This change is reflected in the report

  • The UBS Irish custody business remains under UBS, which was the case as at 30/06/2016, with a subsequent sell-off of the business to MUFG Fund Services custody business. This will be reflected in the 2017 report

  • Administrator entries of State Street and IFS are combined in this report as was the case in 2015

For more information, please contact:

Karine Pacary, Managing Director, Monterey Insight, Tel. +44 (0)845 625 3863

Email: karine.pacary@montereyinsight.com

Notes to Editors

Monterey Insight is an independent fund research company that provides comprehensive statistical analysis of the Ireland, Luxembourg, Guernsey and Jersey fund industries: the only complete reference of service providers for all funds serviced in these jurisdictions.

As at 30th June 2016, leading service providers for all funds serviced in Ireland (i.e. including non-domiciled funds under administration or custody in Ireland) were as follows:

Source: Monterey Insight, Ireland Fund Report.


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