Ireland strengthens position as international investment hub

Irish Funds, the voice of the funds and asset management industry in Ireland, has published its latest investment fund industry figures for December.

Continuing the strong performance of NAV growth and net sales since the effects of the pandemic in March 2020, December ended the year on a high with net sales of €72.2bn more than double the net sales in November. This propelled Ireland to the highest net sales, €245bn for the year, across all European fund locations in 2020. Net assets closed the year at €3.32 trillion - the highest level ever reached.

In January 2021 alone, 27 financial firms entered or expanded their presence in Ireland bringing the total to 137 new entries or expanded offers since January last year. The primary driver behind the growth has been alternative fund managers, reflecting growing investor interest in diversifying and alternative investment products.

Pat Lardner, Irish Funds CEO commented: “This strong growth in Irish domiciled funds is a demonstration of the continuing success across the full range of investment product and service offerings in Ireland, which has recently been expanded to include the new Investment Limited Partnership structure. Despite the uncertainty surrounding the pandemic, confidence remains high in the ability of our industry to deliver better investment outcomes for investors.”

Key figures for the Irish fund industry during the December period include: Total domiciled NAV stood at €3.32 trillion, an increase of 3.2% on the month (UCITS NAV up 3.5%; AIFs up 2.4%) overall now showing an increase of 9.0% for the year; Net sales for the month strongly positive +€72.2bn; Net sales in UCITS +€64.8bn (UCITS Equity +€24bn; UCITS MMFs +30bn); AIFs +€7.3bn; Net sales for the full year 2020 stand at +€245.4bn.

As Ireland continues to be a location of choice for the domiciling and servicing of investment funds, Irish Funds, the country’s fund and asset management industry body has created a new strategic framework to capitalise on the expected growth in the sector and to support the trade body’s increasing number of members, which is up by over 30% in the last four years.

The framework sets a clear vision and agenda for the next three years as the fund and asset management sector continues to contribute to the post pandemic recovery alongside the promotion of sustainable finance with the newly launched Investment Limited Partnership structure, to ensure Ireland continues as the premier location to enable and support global investing.