The registration process was assisted by TriAlpha Asset Management, which was set up in Jersey in 1999 and has offices on the Esplanade.
ABSA will use its Jersey branch to market the full range of TriAlpha mutual funds to six million clients, serviced by more than 1,500 financial advisers.
ri-Alpha’s managing director, Michael Capraro, said that the fact that ABSA had chosen Jersey to register the branch was ‘a big vote of confidence’ in the jurisdiction.
ABSA already has an office in Singapore and we know that a lot of companies have been looking outside the European Union net – they could have chosen to register anywhere in the world, but they chose Jersey.
That is positive news.
Mr Capraro said that some of the board members of ABSA had been impressed by what they had seen during visits to the Island.
‘We’ve convinced them of the Island’s stability, and that I think was a deciding factor.
TriAlpha will not need more staff because the technology is already geared up, but the new registration promises to bring significant inflows through the increase in assets under management in Jersey.
At the moment South Africa is going through radical chan-ges, but the fact that the Financial Action Task Force has this month admitted South Africa as a full member will have huge benefits for any companies in Jersey working in the South African marketplace.
It makes life so much easier,’ he said.
With the South African rand having slipped back over the last few weeks, and predicted to continue to devalue against the major currencies, South Afri-cans will again be looking beyond their shores for investment opportunities.
ABSA, which stands for Am-algamated Banks of South Africa, was formed from four major banks and building societies.
It was recently voted the leading financial services brand in South Africa by an independent media survey.
illie Lategan, managing director of ABSA Life in South Africa, said: ‘This development gives ABSA an exciting new opportunity to extend its offshore product offering.
Our relationship with TriAlpha has gone from strength to strength over the last four years.
‘TriAlpha already manages signficant assets for ABSA and its clients, and we look forward to growing these assets with our new Jersey capability.
