This Is Guernsey

By Tom Edwards

GuernseyFinance chief executive Peter Niven

THE fund business is flourishing in Guernsey. The total value under management and administration has reached a record £178.2bn.

The total grew by £48bn during 2007 and £13.7bn of that was during the final three months. GuernseyFinance chief executive Peter Niven said it was an excellent set of results.

‘The figures are particularly impressive considering the significant market turbulence that we saw during quarter three of last year, carried over into the final three months of 2007 and the start of the new year,’ he said. ‘Given these conditions, the strength of business flows has held up very well and in all honesty surpassed expectations.

‘These figures mean that we start 2008 in excellent condition and can look forward to passing the seminal £200bn mark in the very near future.’

The most eye-catching results were in private equities, where values increased by 13.6bn year on year to reach £34bn at the end of 2007.

Carey Olsen partner Graham Hall said it was proof that fund promoters were increasingly recognising Guernsey’s first-class infrastructure and wealth of expertise in this asset class.

‘The island is the jurisdiction of choice for private equity,’ he said.

Guernsey’s closed- and open-ended funds have also seen record growth.

Closed-ended funds grew by £8.8bn during the final quarter and £27.9bn during 2007 to reach £76.4bn.

Open-ended funds rose by £4.2bn during the last three months of the year and £12.6bn during the year to reach £69.2bn.

Non-Guernsey schemes, for which some aspect of management and administration is carried out in Guernsey, increased by £7.5bn year on year to reach a new high of £32.6bn.

Since the inception of qualifying investor funds in February 2005, a total of 183 had received consent or approval from the Guernsey Financial Services Commission by the end of last year.

Eighty of those were during last year alone.

GFSC director of investment business Peter Moffatt said the figures were evidence of continuing confidence in the Guernsey investment fund sector despite global market turbulence.

‘The QIF and registered closed-ended investment fund regimes continue to be extensively used by local firms to service the needs of their fund promoter clients.’