The diversified financial services group, Ocorian, is targeting growth in the €3.88 trillion Irish funds market after being granted three new licences by the Central Bank of Ireland, making it one of just a few non-bank providers based in Ireland able to offer a full range of services for a wider range of clients.
The firm, which has offered corporate and capital market services in Ireland for 15 years, now has licences covering Alternative Investment Fund Management (AIFM) services, fund administration services and real asset depositary services. This enables them to provide a bespoke and tailored service while supporting clients throughout their whole fund life cycle from establishment to fund administration, ongoing reporting, and regulatory compliance.
Ocorian is predicting strong growth in Ireland’s fund management industry fuelled by more US fund managers choosing to domicile their structures in Ireland as they launch into Europe as well as demand from UK managers looking at alternative institutional domiciles. In addition, they are also targeting existing managers that are looking for a higher level of expert client service and single point of accountability for their relationship.
Ireland’s new Investment Limited Partnerships (ILP) Act has made the country even more competitive for private investment funds particularly those based in the UK, US, Europe, and Asia. There is increased interest from private equity managers looking to establish parallel European structures to existing offshore funds to distribute to European investors.
The rapidly expanding alternative asset class market, which Ireland already specialises in will add to growth. Ireland is firmly established as Europe’s leading centre for alternative funds and the largest hedge fund domicile with 40% of global hedge funds serviced in the country.
Ocorian, which provides fund administration services to over 1,000 businesses across 14 onshore and offshore jurisdictions including Luxembourg, Jersey, Guernsey, UK, Cayman Islands and Mauritius, says Ireland’s European Union membership which offers EU access to firms is a major attraction as is its highly educated, expert, and experienced workforce.
Because Ireland is English-speaking it is an ideal base for US and other English-speaking asset managers, Ocorian says. Currently more than 1,000 fund managers from 50-plus countries have assets administered in Ireland with 17 of the world’s top 20 global asset managers offering Irish-domiciled funds.
Mike Hughes, Global Head of Service Lines at Ocorian said “Ireland is a world class leading domicile for fund services and Ocorian has an extensive track record in supporting asset managers in key jurisdictions around the world. These licences will now enable us to offer our clients a wider choice of domicile for their funds within the European Union and benefit from Ocorian’s global expertise in fund administration.”
“We have been operating in Ireland for over 15 years, offering corporate and capital market services to businesses engaged in aircraft leasing, securitisation, and cross border financing so it was an easy decision to expand our strategic footprint in Ireland and offer a wider range of services to our clients. Our presence in key global jurisdictions enables us to bring global and local expertise to our existing and future clients.”
Seán Fleming TD, Minister of State for Financial Services, Credit Unions and Insurance said: “I welcome the expansion in the regulated services that Ocorian will be offering to fund clients from Ireland. The funds industry is a cornerstone of the International Financial Services sector in Ireland. The Government is committed to growing the number of people working in firms like Ocorian through the Ireland for Finance strategy.”
Garrett Breen, Global Head of Funds at Ocorian added “Our expansion into regulated fund services in Ireland means we can provide support throughout the whole lifecycle of an Irish domiciled fund structure: from establishment to ongoing fund administration, manager and investor reporting, and the critical regulatory compliance. Our expertise, certain delivery and powerful technology solutions mean that our clients can rely on us to take care of the regulatory burden of running a fund and focus on generating value for their investors.”
Kieran Donoghue, Global Head of Strategy, Public Policy and International Financial Services, IDA Ireland said: “Ireland’s offering as a leading International financial services hub within the EU continues to appeal to overseas investors looking to service their client base in this market. Ocorian is a very welcome addition to the group of companies providing regulated fund services from Dublin.”
For more information, visit Ocorian Irish Fund Services.