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Delegates at a seminar on the future of the alternative fund management industry hosted by State Street Wednesday (December 4) were told that, despite the raft of regulatory changes, the outlook for Jersey’s funds sector was positive.
Delegates at a seminar on the future of the alternative fund management industry hosted by State Street Wednesday (December 4) were told that, despite the raft of regulatory changes, the outlook for Jersey’s funds sector was positive.
Melville Rodrigues, London-based Partner at law firm CMS Cameron McKenna, indicated that there had been concerns about the impact of AIFMD, but all credit to the Channel Islands. The Islands have "weathered the storm" and demonstrated that there remains a level playing field for funds.
‘From the UK perspective, we look at the Channel Islands as a destination for funds on a par with Luxembourg and other leading centres. Fund managers and investors are essentially focused on fundamentals such as efficiency of the fund structures and quality of service providers.’
Mr Rodrigues, a real estate fund specialist, was on a panel with Mary Bruen, Associate Director at PwC, Robert Milner, Partner at Carey Olsen and Simon Burgess, Head of Product, EMEA Private Equity and Real Estate Fund Services, State Street, who chaired the session.
Entitled ‘The New Era for Private Equity and Real Estate Fund Management, Jersey in the Spotlight’, the seminar included a keynote address from Geoff Cook, Chief Executive Officer, Jersey Finance Limited, who highlighted the ‘unprecedented wave of new regulation’ that was on the horizon but concluded that the shifting regulatory landscape was moving in Jersey’s favour.
Phil McGowan, Senior Vice President and Head of EMEA Private Equity and Real Estate Fund Services, State Street, hosted the event, and provided a summary of some of the findings of the global survey of nearly 400 leading alternative fund managers undertaken by State Street in collaboration with Preqin. The study had indicated that despite the increasing regulatory burden and the need to adapt to new standards, the majority of alternative fund managers (75% in the study) were optimistic that it would not constrain their growth potential. Some 18% of those surveyed had indicated that they planned to expand in the next five years, while M&A activity among alternative fund managers was also forecast to increase.
