Press Release: Assets In Irish Domiciled Funds Set To Exceed €5 Trillion by 2025

Assets In Irish Domiciled Investments Funds Set To Exceed €5 Trillion within the next five years

• Funds and Asset Management Industry on course to employ over 20,000 people (+25%) and generate €1 billion (+20%) in tax contributions by 2021

• Industry association Irish Funds launches new strategic framework to support continued growth and capitalise on emerging opportunities

Dublin, Friday, 4 February 2021; New industry analysis by Irish Funds, the Association of the Funds and Asset Management Industry in Ireland, reveals that assets under management in Irish domiciled investment funds is set to climb to over €5 trillion by 2025, rallying from the €3.21 trillion recorded at the end of 2020 – the highest level ever reached.

With nearly 8,000 domiciled funds, and more than 14,000 total funds administered here, Ireland has over the last 30 years become the second investment fund location in the EU and the third largest in the world.

According to Irish Funds data, the Irish investment funds industry currently employs just over 16,000 people across asset management, depositaries, administrators, professional advisors, transfer agents, and other specialist firms.

However, based on expected growth, owing in part to changing legislation and the rapidly evolving sustainable finance agenda, the industry’s workforce is expected to grow to over 20,000 – an increase of 25 percent. At the end of last year, the Irish government passed legislation to amend and extend the Investment Limited Partnerships Act 1994, which overhauls existing legislation to allow for the establishment of special investment partnerships.

The analysis follows Irish Funds’ recent unveiling of its new strategic framework to capitalise on the surge in 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, which is being launched to coincide with the Association’s 30th anniversary, will help to set a clear vision and agenda for the next three years as the funds and asset management sector manages the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and Brexit, as well as driving other important initiatives. This framework sets out a number of goals including:

• Ensuring Ireland is the premier location to enable and support global investing;

• Pioneering projects and partnering with stakeholders to position Ireland as a multi-pronged centre of excellence;

• Ensuring the industry is forward-looking, alive to opportunities and resilient to potential threats;

• Activating campaigns to build a greater understanding of the funds industry’s contribution and role in Ireland and globally;

• And futureproofing through developing and building industry skills and talent.

Pat Lardner, Chief Executive at Irish Funds, said: “This year is our 30th anniversary and will be pivotal for both Irish Funds and our industry. Our new strategic framework is the culmination of 12 month’s work in which we gathered valuable insights through our members to help us better understand their key priorities and evolving requirements.

“Now is a crucial time for the millions of people around the world for whom our industry provides investment solutions and services, and with assets under management in Irish domiciled funds set to grow substantially, there is a real opportunity for Ireland to become a new, greater force in the financial market. While we face a range of urgent issues and opportunities, we must work to understand what’s at stake and be decisive, dynamic and unified as a sector so that we can meet the challenges of this era.

“As the voice of the funds and asset management industry in Ireland for 30 years, we will continue to draw on our wealth of experience and relationships as we seek to shape a better future. As our anniversary coincides with Brexit, it is fitting we ensure that not only our industry in Ireland is recognised as a force for positive change but that we have stepped up our engagement in the EU to make sure our industry’s voice is heard.”

-ENDS-

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