Issue 74 of Businesslife, a special edition on the funds sector, is now available online.
The global funds sector is thriving in the face of adversity – as funds activity blossoms despite the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the fallout from Brexit – the latest issue of Businesslife finds.
The special funds edition, out now, explores just how Jersey and Guernsey funds are outperforming other regions and other sectors – and how the islands’ fund management and administration services are powering that success.
Jon Watkins, Editor-in-Chief of Businesslife, said: “The volatility and uncertainty placed on the financial markets by the double hit of the pandemic and Brexit has been well documented.
“But the funds sector has seized an opportunity and is thriving – particularly in the Channel Islands, where the sector is continuing to innovate and evolve.
“We wanted to produce an issue that explores in an in-depth way what’s driving that success – as well as how the Channel Islands are setting themselves up for an even brighter funds future.”
Peak performance
In exploring the topic, this issue of BL evidences the recent performance of the funds sector, generally and in the Channel Islands.
The first half of 2021 was the strongest first-half performance in a calendar year for the hedge fund sector since 1999, for example.
More broadly, our issue finds, funds have performed remarkably well across domiciles, with US funds returning an average 7.9% in the first seven months of the year and European, Asian and African funds returning 6.8%, according to Morningstar.
Meanwhile, Guernsey and Jersey remain the second and third largest domiciles for private equity and venture capital funds in Europe (setting aside unclassified funds), according to analyst Preqin.
Driving forces
One part of the sector that is performing particularly well – and is helping to drive overall performance – is that of mega-funds.
With the share prices of many major companies, including household names such as Morrisons and Asda, eroded by a turbulent few years, mega-funds have been circling, ready to ship these high-street giants from public to private ownership.
A startling statistic highlighted in our feature on this subject is that the number of listed companies in the UK has fallen by around 40% compared with 2008.
Another area currently flying high is direct private lending. With corporate banks seemingly reluctant to lend to anyone but big blue-chip firms right now, and businesses seeking greater access to financial support in the wake of the Covid pandemic, direct private lending is stepping up to seize the opportunities on offer.
Equipped for the future
In addition to these trends, in this issue we also look at what’s powering the sector’s flexibility and adaptability – a strong fund administration sector.
Our article explores how, as the funds landscape becomes increasingly complex, fund managers are outsourcing increasingly large chunks of their operations to bespoke fund administrators – a trend that looks set to continue.
Elsewhere in this issue…
We also look at:
• How firms are tackling ESG reporting on funds – without a standard framework
• How the Greensill scandal has shone a new light on shadow banking
• How transition finance is being leveraged to fund a greener future and meet zero-emissions targets
• How to begin investing in wine
Click here to view our Digital edition online.
The physical version of the magazine will be available from its usual distribution points shortly.