FUNDS in Guernsey have continued to boom over the second quarter of the year. In the three months to the end of June, those under management and administration increased by £15.2bn to a record total of £155.6bn.

Over the past 12 months, values have gone up by £32.3bn, a rise of 34.8%.

‘These figures are evidence of continuing confidence in the Guernsey investment fund sector,’ said Guernsey Financial Services Commission director of investment business Peter Moffatt.

‘We recognise, of course, that market conditions have changed radically since they were collated.’

Mr Moffatt said the qualifying investor fund regime introduced in February 2005 continued to be popular, while the success of the registered closed-ended investment fund regime in the first quarter of this year had continued, with local administrators using it to service the needs of their clients.

Advocate Roger Le Tissier, a partner at Ogier, said the success story was even greater than the latest figures suggested.

‘In the private equity sector, where we are especially active as lawyers and administrators, the figures do not show that the committed capital in fact far exceeds the figures provided by the commission as they include only drawn- down capital.

‘For example, Coller International Partners V, for whom we act, has closed its most recent fund at $5bn but has yet to draw down the majority of the commitments.’

Anson Fund Managers CEO John Le Prevost said the figures supported the increasing recognition of Guernsey as a preferred domicile of choice for new fund products.

‘Over the past year we have seen a large increase in new sponsors coming from Asia and the Americas to launch funds in Guernsey.

‘Many of these are prime names in their home country and such increasing international-cum-global recognition of Guernsey bodes well for our fund sector in the years ahead.’

The closed-end fund sector saw continued growth at £5.9bn (10.6%) over the quarter and £23.7bn (61.3%) for the year since June 2006.

Guernsey domiciled open-ended funds grew by £3.9bn (6.6%) over the quarter and by £8.6bn for the past 12 months to reach a total of £62.6bn.

GuernseyFinance chief executive Peter Niven said: ‘Market conditions have become more challenging since the end of June.

‘However, these statistics bear out that Guernsey is in a very strong competitive position to continue to service fund business to the very highest professional standards.’