Guernsey Tells Its Funds Story

by Carla Johnson, InvestorsOffshore.com, London

10 October 2008

With the total value of funds under management and administration in Guernsey reaching a new record high of GBP207bn at the end of June 2008 (up 33% year on year), this year's Guernsey Funds Forum, which took place this week at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference and Exhibition Centre, Westminster, London. had a celebratory air.

Super-Mum Nicola Horlick, Chief Executive Officer, Bramdean Asset Management, recommended Guernsey as a funds domicile, saying that her firm uses the Island because of its regulatory environment, strength in administration and accessibility: "We have just domiciled an alternatives fund in Guernsey with a full London listing. We decided that Guernsey was most appropriate, from a regulatory point of view, we felt there were some good administrators there and it’s easy to get there,” she said.

“Our experience in Guernsey has been very positive and I would recommend Guernsey as a domicile. It’s going to be a very difficult period over the short term but I do believe, over a longer period, Guernsey will do very well indeed.”

Grant Cameron, Chairman of the Guernsey Investment Funds Association, told the conference: “We could not have picked a better date for the meeting with all the action in the markets. We are in very uncertain times – there’s no liquidity, which prevents the movement of money but in these uncertain times there are prospects. . . . There’s a huge calibre that underpins the Guernsey story. The rules of the game are changing but Guernsey will remain relevant and will react. Our biggest strength is flexibility and the ability to react to changing events. This time will be seen as one of those events that Guernsey will react to.”

There were some 200 attendees at the Forum, 75% of which were non-Guernsey and including 12 specialist trade journalists. “Both the calibre of the non-Guernsey audience and the number of them was significantly more than the last Guernsey Funds Forum. We made an effort to get the people here who don’t know Guernsey, in order to introduce Guernsey and I think we succeeded there. People were genuinely interested in what the speakers and panellists had to say,” added Mr Cameron.

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