The Guernsey funds sector enjoyed its biggest growth in four years during the first quarter of 2017.
The latest figures from the Guernsey Financial Services Commission show that the net asset value of funds under management and administration in the island grew by £10.6bn (4.1 per cent) over the quarter – the highest margin of growth since the first quarter of 2013, when funds grew by £19.7bn.
From the end of March 2016, total net asset values increased by £28.6bn (12 per cent).
The statistics build on six previous quarters of growth to take the total value of funds business in Guernsey to £266.5bn at the end of March 2017.
This marks the longest continued period of increased value in nearly six years, when June 2009 to June 2011 reached eight straight quarters of growth.
Guernsey Finance Chief Executive Dominic Wheatley said: “Given the global uncertainty at the moment, it is reassuring that Guernsey’s fund industry is showing itself to be a sector of stability and ongoing growth.
“We have now seen seven consecutive quarters of growth, with the value of open-ended funds on the rise again after a brief dip last quarter. The growth in the first quarter of this year was more than a third of the entire growth in 2016, which marks a very positive start to the year.”
The figures show the Guernsey closed-ended sector was valued at £164.3bn at the end of March – up £4.9bn (3.1 per cent) during the first three months of 2017 and up £14.7bn (9.8 per cent) compared with 12 months earlier.
The value of Guernsey-domiciled open-ended funds now stands at £43.9bn, an increase of £1.6bn (3.8 per cent) during the quarter, and up £3.6bn (8.9 per cent) year-on-year.
Non-Guernsey schemes – funds not domiciled in Guernsey but with some aspect of management, administration or custody in the island – increased by £4.1bn (7.6 per cent) during the first quarter of this year to be valued at £58.3bn – up £10.4bn (21.7 per cent) on the same point in 2016.