Guernsey Funds Under Management Up GBP10bn In Q4 2006

by Philip Morton, Investors Offshore.com

19 February 2007

Funds under management and administration in Guernsey increased by nearly GBP10bn in the final quarter of 2006 to end the year with a new record high of more than GBP130bn, it emerged last week.

Figures from the island’s regulator, the Guernsey Financial Services Commission (GFSC), show that asset value reached GBP130.2bn at the end of December, an increase of GBP9.7bn (8%) from the GBP120.5bn recorded at the end of September – the previous high – and a rise of GBP30.2bn (30.2%) during the year as a whole.

“This is absolutely fantastic news,” announced Peter Niven, Chief Executive of GuernseyFinance, the promotional agency for the island’s finance industry.

He continued:

“This massive influx of new business during the final quarter of last year reflects how fund promoters and sponsors view Guernsey as a jurisdiction of choice for conducting funds business. Setting another new high on the back of consistent growth that has taken us to new record levels throughout 2006 caps a tremendous year for Guernsey’s funds industry and demonstrates the strength of the product we have on offer, including quality service providers, pragmatic regulation and an ‘open for business’ attitude. Guernsey’s fund industry is booming.”

A breakdown of the figures shows that Guernsey domiciled open-ended funds grew by 4.9% over the quarter and 17.5% during the year to reach GBP56.6bn at the end of 2006, and Guernsey domiciled closed-ended funds rose 10.9% during the three months and 55.8% over the 12 months to reach GBP48.5bn at the end of the year.

This took the combined value of these funds past the GBP100bn mark for the first time – reaching GBP105.1bn. Non-Guernsey schemes rose in value by 9.9% between September and December and 21.2% during the year, reaching GBP25.1bn at the end of 2006.

Fund approvals ran at record levels during 2006, with 48 new open-ended funds and 127 new closed-ended funds – a combined 175, which is itself 62 more than in the previous 12 months. In addition, there were 51 Qualified Investor Funds (QIFs) approved during the past year, compared to 27 in 2005.

Conducting funds business in Guernsey was made simpler and quicker at the beginning of this month, when a new streamlined consent process for registered closed-ended funds and new rules on Principal Managers for regulated open-ended funds were introduced with effect from 1 February.

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