For institutions and for private clients and their advisers, selecting a custodian in an offshore centre is likely to start from a desire to achieve specific legal or tax-planning objectives. The good news is that, as well as fulfilling these technical goals, clients can also derive a tangible added-value in the form of the particular expertise and service quality which their offshore custodian can contribute to the global management of their affairs.
The situations in which an investment fund, insurance or fiduciary structure may need its assets to be held in custody offshore are varied. For example, an onshore fund manager launching an offshore fund may be required to have the funds’ assets custodised in the same jurisdiction as the fund in order to satisfy regulatory requirements, aimed at the protection of investors. This may particularly be the case if the fund is targeting a broad market of international high networth individuals, rather than a more narrowly defined "qualifying
