Guernsey FSC Publishes Q1 Fund Figures

by Philip Morton, Investors Offshore.com

24 May 2007

It emerged on Wednesday that the introduction in Guernsey of a registered regime for closed-ended investment schemes has helped send the value of funds under management and administration in the Island to a new high of more than GBP140bn.

Figures from the Guernsey Financial Services Commission (GFSC) published this week show that the value reached GBP140.4bn at the end of March, an increase of GBP10.2bn (7.8%) from the GBP130.2bn recorded at the end of 2006 – the previous high – and a rise of GBP29bn (26%) year on year.

The registered closed-ended investment funds regime has been in operation since 1 February 2007, and 8 such funds received consent in the two months to March 31, with a further 10 following suit so far.

Peter Niven, Chief Executive of the promotional agency GuernseyFinance, observed that:

“These figures are good news for the Island’s fund industry. They clearly show that the registered closed-ended funds regime is proving very popular and as such it has enabled us to continue to experience the superb levels of growth that were the hallmark of 2006.”

Other key highlights of the figures were that:

• Guernsey domiciled closed-ended funds grew by GBP7.9bn (16.3%) over the quarter and GBP22.6bn (66.9%) year on year to reach GBP56.4bn, a new record.
• Guernsey domiciled open-ended funds grew by GBP2.1bn (3.7%) over the first three months of the year and by GBP5.2bn (9.7%) over the year to reach a record total of GBP58.7bn.
• This took the combined value of these Guernsey-domiciled funds to just over GBP115bn.

Commenting on the Q1 fund figures, Peter Moffatt, Director of Investment Business at the Guernsey Financial Services Commission, announced that:

“The record level of fund approvals seen in 2006 shows no signs of slowing down. There is a continuing flow of enquiries and expressions of interest from both new promoters and promoters already represented through their existing Guernsey funds. The Registered Closed-ended Investment Fund Regime that was only introduced in February 2007 has already been extensively used by local fund administrators to service the needs of their clients."

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