Guernsey – The Fund Centre Of The Future

Originally published in The Fund Business, Guernsey Supplement, February 2008

Guernsey has a rich heritage of some 40 years in the investment funds business. Over these years the Island's funds industry has changed markedly evolving from a sector dominated in the 1980s and 1990s by open-ended equity funds to one in which there has been a significant increase in closed-ended alternatives, such as property, private equity, funds of hedge funds and the emergence and increase in popularity of more esoteric asset classes such as fine wine, fine art and timber.

There has also been major growth, particularly in recent years and by the end of September 2007 there were 1,063 funds under management and administration in the Island with a total value of £164.5bn up 6% during the previous quarter and 36.5% year on year. While activity is not quite as frenetic as pre-'credit crunch', business flows have