The Evolution Of The Guernsey Funds Industry

Guernsey's funds industry goes back over 30 years when the first retail unit trusts were established. At that time, Jersey had already established a firm foothold with these retail products. Lacking first mover advantage encouraged Guernsey to find alternative source of revenues from the funds sector and thus the Island opened its arms to alternative product types that weren't necessarily acceptable in Jersey. From the late 1980's onwards, Guernsey began to attract the then smaller closed ended fund market and many smaller management firms and start-up funds. By the time that Jersey made a significant attempt to attract the growing alternative funds market it found that it was already entrenched in Guernsey. The growth of the alternative funds market helped place Guernsey on the map amongst leading offshore fund jurisdictions. Guernsey had realised that within the offshore world, the key thing is to have or get a hold of a new line of products, create a precedent, and