New findings from the 24th edition of Monterey Insight Ireland Fund Report, the independent fund research company, reveal the market shares of all service providers in Ireland’s funds industry.
Fund assets serviced in Ireland rose by 11.7% reaching US$3,677.7bn at the end of June 2018, up from US$3,293.3bn in 2017. The total number of sub-funds reached 8,982 (an increase from the 8,492 of the previous year). Looking at Irish domiciled funds only, the number of funds and sub-funds has grown by 6.2% to 5,229 (from 4,922 in 2017) reaching a market size of US$2,838.9bn, an increase of 13.7% of total fund assets.
The amount of new Irish schemes launched during the year rose to US$33.9bn with circa 200 sub-funds (this does not include new sub-funds launched within existing umbrellas). Altogether, 746 Irish groups and sub-funds were launched during the year representing total assets of US$104.7bn
State Street consolidate their leading position for the three categories: administrator, custodian and transfer agent with assets serviced for each role as follows: assets under administration US$1,236.1bn, assets under custody US$1,118.3bn and assets for transfer agent US$1,039.6bn.
In more detail, fund administration services across both domiciled and non-domiciled funds, State Street (US$1,236.1bn) is followed in second place by BNY Mellon (US$534.7bn) with Northern Trust (US$473.0bn) in third position and JP Morgan moving up to the fourth position with US$308.4bn.
Among custodians of serviced funds, the ranking remains unchanged with State Street having the largest assets under custody (US$1,118.3bn), ahead of BNY Mellon Trust Company (US$507.9bn) and Northern Trust (US$456.2bn) in third place.
In the transfer agents ranking, State Street secure first position with total net assets of (US$1,039.6bn) followed by Northern Trust (USU$474.6bn) in second position and BNY Mellon (US$420.1bn) in third.
Tadhg Young, Head of State Street Ireland, commented: “We are very proud of our leading market position in Ireland for all three categories - administrator, custodian and transfer agent. As the industry continues to innovate, so does the way we look at serving our institutional clients across geographies. Our dedicated and focused teams are consistently exploring new ways to support our clients’ fund investment strategies, and share insights on future growth opportunities."
Among Ireland’s professional audit firms, as has been the case for a number of years, PwC hold the lead position in auditor’s rankings in both number of funds and assets auditing a total of 2,846 funds with US$1,800.8bn in assets. They are followed by KPMG with 1,762 funds (US$730.2bn) and EY in third position with 1,199 funds (US$402.4bn).
Trish Johnston, PwC Ireland Asset & Wealth Management Leader, said: "We are delighted that we continue to be the number one auditor to the asset and wealth management industry in Ireland. This is an exciting time for asset managers. In Ireland we project that assets under management have the potential to grow to €7 trillion by 2025.
"However, there are uncertainties ahead. Growing concerns regarding global trade wars, Brexit and other geopolitical forces may impact global and Irish growth and investment returns. To remain competitive and attractive for investors, asset managers need to adapt their business models in the coming years. Managers who are quick in adapting to the changes that AI, data and analytics, and robotic process automation will bring to the industry will see success quicker than those who don’t. And for Irish and global asset managers to be fit for the future, it will be very important to continue to attract and retain tech-savvy talent who are in high demand."
Among legal firms, as in previous years for Irish domiciled funds, Dillon Eustace secure the top position with 1,113 funds ahead of Matheson moving up to second position this year with 1,086 funds.
Donnacha O’Connor, Head of Asset Management and Investment Funds in Dillon Eustace commented: “We are delighted to be ranked as the leading legal adviser to Irish domiciled investment funds, a position we have held since Monterey and their predecessors began compiling data on the Irish funds market over two decades ago. We continue to use this unrivalled experience to give our clients the best possible guidance on Irish funds."
Maples and Calder remain the largest legal adviser on the volume of funds serviced in Ireland providing legal advice to 1,407 funds, followed in second place by Dillon Eustace with 1,190 funds.
Peter Stapleton, Head of the Investment Management group in Maples and Calder's Dublin office commented on the results: "We are delighted to be ranked as the top legal firm in Ireland having advised on the highest number of Irish-serviced funds for the sixth year in a row. To once again obtain this coveted position is a fantastic achievement and wouldn't have been possible without the support of our trusted clients and the talented partners, lawyers and wider Investment Management group at Maples. I'm incredibly proud to lead a team of this calibre."
He continued:
"In addition to a great year in Ireland, our global Investment Management group was further bolstered this year by the opening of offices in Luxembourg and Jersey. These offices were opened in response to a surge in demand as our clients examine how best to maintain and enhance their European business. I look forward to working with these new global teams in 2019."
"The Monterey report also highlights impressive growth in the Irish funds industry with the ICAV continuing to provide an excellent vehicle of choice for asset managers, with Maples holding a 37% market share on ICAVs advised based on the Central Bank of Ireland register as at 31 July 2018."
For the market share ranking by assets of legal advisers , Matheson rank first for both Irish domiciled and for serviced funds, with a total of US$846.2bn followed by Dillon Eustace with US$561.8bn and Maples and Calder with US$544.4bn.
Tara Doyle, Head of Matheson’s Asset Management and Investment Funds team, said: “We are delighted to once again have grown our market share, in a market which also continues to grow. This increase in market share is attributable to a dual focus; first and foremost, helping our existing clients achieve their growth and secondly strategically targeting new managers entering the Irish market and existing managers looking for the enhanced servicing and value add that Matheson can provide. The stability of our partner group this year has enabled this focus on the quality of our client service.”
Among the largest fund promoters/initiators of Irish domiciled schemes, BlackRock Financial Management keep their lead and increase their total net assets to US$562.3bn, followed by PIMCO with US$179.1bn and Vanguard Group moving up to third position with US$132.2bn.
The top three positions for Management Company/AIFM, among Irish schemes, including Irish UCITS and Irish Non-UCITS, results in the same figures as for promoters/initiators above.
Similar to previous years, money market funds remain the largest asset class with an increase of 4.8% to US$588.3bn, followed by the impressive increases of both bond & equity products: bonds were up by 15.9% to US$517.8bn and equities, taking third position, were up by 17.8% to US$495.0bn.
Karine Pacary, Managing Director at Monterey Insight commented: “The Irish fund industry has again enjoyed remarkable growth this year and proved adept at re-affirming its competitiveness as a fund centre. ICAVs continue to remain a very popular investment vehicle coming in second ranked of the new products launched during the year totalling US$31.6bn of assets (193 sub-funds).
In excess of 60 new promoters/initiators chose Ireland to set up their funds representing 138 new sub-funds with US$35.6bn of assets, of which the vast majority is coming from UK based firms (US$27.5bn).”
Notification for reference to the reader:
GAM Fund Management outsources administrative activities to State Street. From 2017, GAM Fund Management is shown as the main administrator and the delegated business of State Street is listed under the section “Sub Administrator business”. Therefore, this is not accounted for in this press release.
Invesco Global Asset Management outsources administrative activities to BNY Mellon. From 2017, Invesco Global Asset Management is shown as the main administrator and the outsourced fund accounting business of BNY Mellon will be shown under the section “Sub Administrator business”. Therefore, this is not accounted for in this press release.
From the 2015 edition, administration entries of State Street and IFS have been combined. This is not the case for the transfer agent services.
For more information, please contact:
Karine Pacary, Managing Director, Monterey Insight
Tel. +44 (0)845 625 3863
Email: karine.pacary@montereyinsight.com
Notes to Editors
Monterey Insight is an independent fund research company that provides comprehensive statistical analysis of the Ireland, Luxembourg, Guernsey and Jersey fund industries: the only complete reference of service providers for all funds serviced in these jurisdictions.
As at 30th June 2018, leading service providers for all funds serviced in Ireland (i.e. including non-domiciled funds under administration or custody in Ireland, with the exception of ManCo/AIFM and one ranking table for legal advisers which are Irish domiciled funds only) were as follows:
Source: Monterey Insight Ireland Fund Report
