Andrew Wignall, a director of fund administration company Moore Management, feels that recent figures published by the Jersey Financial Services Commission, which indicated that the funds industry is booming, do not tell the full story.
The sector has certainly grown since the JFSC amended its rules on regulating Jersey-based’expert’ funds but Mr Wignall, who sits on the committee of the Jersey Funds Association, thinks that the Island is in danger of losing its lead in administering non Jersey-based funds.
‘There has been some trumpeting of the recent statistic that the number of expert funds in the Island has increased from 60 to 79,’ he said.
‘This is promising but needs to be put in context.
Jersey is competing directly with Cayman in this area which establishes 35 funds a week and has 6,000-7,000 hedge funds domiciled there.
‘On its own the Jersey expert fund could be attractive to those who prefer to use Cayman but is unlikely to produce significant changes in business flow within the near future.
Quite simply, there is no particular need to change.
‘Jersey’s real strength has always been within its fund services industry which has been established since the 1970s.
Many Cayman funds are administered in Dublin, which only established its industry in the 1990s.
Jersey has the opportunity of becoming a one-stop shop, which would be much more attractive to fund promoters.
