The Irish Funds Industry Association (IFIA) is opening a representative office in Hong Kong to assist the increasing number of local managers seeking to establish funds in a regulated environment.
??"Over the past 20 years, Ireland has established itself as one of the global leaders for domiciling UCITS and regulated alternative investment funds", a statement from IFIA said. ? ?
The office in Hong Kong was formally announced at Fund Forum Asia by Pat Lardner who has recently become chief executive of the IFIA. The operation will be led by Conor O’Mara in a joint initiative between the IFIA and the Irish Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong.
“The ICC looks forward to helping position Ireland as the offshore centre of choice, as China and HK internationalizes its front and back end financial operations over the coming years. A HK-Ireland partnership in finance should prove a win-win scenario for the most open economies in Asia and Europe respectively,” said Conor O’Mara, chairman of the Irish Chamber of Commerce in HK. ??
The IFIA has also recently launched new representative offices in both Singapore and Tokyo. These offices were opened in partnership with Government agency IDA Ireland.? ?Ken Owens, chairperson of the IFIA, said that most of the globe’s international banks had a presence in Ireland and that most Irish fund administrators were subsidiaries of international banks offering global support for the distribution of Irish domiciled funds in Asia.
“They can provide a comprehensive range of quality services to asset managers looking for support and representation to meet the needs of Asian investors and distributors.”
Recent announcements by Asian managers of Irish funds include the authorisation by the Central Bank of Ireland of a Sharia Compliant UCITS Fund promoted by the Malaysian regulated CIMB, Principal Islamic Asset Management and a planned UCITS fund promoted by Value Partners Hong Kong.
