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ARTICLE · 04 JUNE 2025

Reserved Investor Fund (RIF)

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Legally, it takes the form of a contractual co-ownership scheme. It has no separate legal personality, and there is no "entity" or "vehicle" as such: there is instead simply a binding contractual arrangement...

United KingdomFinance and Banking
Lora Froud
Lora Froud
Harriet Miller
Harriet Miller
Sarah Shucksmith
Sarah Shucksmith
Carolina Barry-Laso
Carolina Barry-Laso

The RIF is a new type of UK fund structure and has been available since March 2025.

Legal form

Legally, it takes the form of a contractual co-ownership scheme. It has no separate legal personality, and there is no "entity" or "vehicle" as such: there is instead simply a binding contractual arrangement (called a RIF deed) between the manager, depositary and investors, which serves as the RIF's constitutional document. The RIF's assets are legally held by (or for) the depositary, but are beneficially owned by the investors as co-owners. A RIF can be open- or closed-ended, or a hybrid.

Regulation

A RIF must be a collective investment scheme (CIS) and an alternative investment fund (AIF). It must have a UK alternative investment fund manager and a UK depositary, but is itself an unauthorised fund. There is therefore no FCA authorisation process (as there is for an authorised fund such as a QIS, PAIF or LTAF); but the standard FCA filing and notification

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