Irish Funds Member Update Autumn 2023

Read about our new members, the 2023/2024 Irish Funds Member Council and our recent CEO Forum, as well as information on our 10th Annual UK Symposium on 30 November. You can also find out how to register for the Irish Funds Member Portal and learn more about the Irish Funds Transition Year program and updates from the Green Team Network.

Welcome to Our New Members in 2023

A warm welcome to our new members from across the funds and asset management ecosystem in 2023, which include EDI, FSCOM, Global X ETF, JTC, K&L Gates, MacKenzie Investments, MFEXbyEuroclear, Neuberger Berman, and Temenos.

Our association represents more than 150 member companies from across the funds and asset management industry and we appreciate your continuing support.

Irish Funds Members Council 2023 / 2024

In September we welcomed our new and returning Council Members to continue work on delivering on our strategic objectives.

A big welcome to our new council members: Terri Dempsey, Des Fullam, Andrea Kelly, Ken Lambe Vanora Madigan, and Fergus McNally.

And welcome back to our returning council members: Colm McDonagh, Eoin FitzGerald, Nicholas Blake-Knox, Sarahann Duff, Iain Ferguson, and Adrian Mulryan.

For those who retired from Council this year, a deep appreciation and thank you for your contribution: Gary Clare, Eve Finn, Maria Ging, Ronnie Griffin, Ian Headon, Eoin Motherway, Gavin Nangle, Feargal O'Reilly, and Mary Ruane.

Recent CEO Forum

On 5 October we held the 2nd Irish Funds CEO Forum to bring member firms together for an update and interactive discussion on our 2023 Strategy Plan. It was a valuable opportunity to assess progress against our strategic priorities and how we are delivering for our members. 

We have made a brief write up of the event available on our member portal, which summarises the key areas discussed at the Forum. 

Learn more about our Council Members and Working Group Structure.

Upcoming: 10th Annual UK Symposium – 30 November

The 10th Annual Irish Funds UK Symposium will take place on Thursday, 30 November 2023 in the ETC Venue, 133 Houndsditch, London. With more than 700 already signed up we are looking forward to a lively event with a fantastic line up of speakers and topics. Agenda highlights include:

• A keynote address from Derville Rowland, Deputy Governor at the Central Bank of Ireland,

• A global macroeconomic update from James Pomeroy, Global Economist, HSBC

• Panels and breakout sessions on regulation, ESG and distribution, the future of ETFs, the ILP and private credit and debt strategies.

• A presentation by Broadridge on Cross Border Fund Flows

• And other discussions on ELTIF 2.0, the uK Overseas Fund Regime, and practical applications of artificial intelligence in the funds industry.

Get more information / Register to attend.

Talent Update: Irish Funds Transition Year Programme

As part of our continuing talent strategy, our Financial Literacy TY (Transition Year) Programme is being relaunched in schools this month for the current 2023/24 academic year. Please find the new 2023/24 Irish Funds TY Programme brochure where you can learn more details.

We successfully launched this programme as a pilot last year in twelve schools nationally. Our lead facilitator Eibhlin Johnston, Resiliency Hub was supported by many industry leads who volunteered to share their real life examples and career experience in the classroom.  The programme consists of fifteen learning modules delivered over six weeks in hourly sessions to 410 students, accompanied by fifteen industry leads and we hope to be joined by even more throughout the year.

This year, we have added new interactive workbooks and further developed our materials. We will be looking for more industry volunteers for this academic year to be a part of this programme, full training will be provided. Together, we aim to promote the early learning of financial literacy and critical life skills, through the lens of the investment funds and asset management industry.

Irish Funds Member Portal: Update Your Access or Register

We have recently made some changes to our Member Portal following an update to the system. Existing users who have not already done so will need to update their passwords. Those who are currently not registered to use the member portal can sign up now as well.

The Member Portal is a dedicated resource for members with nearly 3,000 documents and publications on a wide range of funds and asset management industry topics, including consultation submissions, industry guidance, publications and Working Group documents.

Existing Users – Update your Member Portal Password: If you were an EXISTING user (before 9 August 2023), when you log on to the Member Portal , you will need to click on the ‘Forgot password’ link and populate your email address and select the ‘Reset password’ option.

New Users – Register for the Member Portal: If you are NEW to the Portal, you can register on the Registration Page. You will then receive an email from info@irishfunds.ie to verify your password. (If you do not receive the email, please ensure our email address is whitelisted with your IT Department/system). Please then follow the instructions from the email to verify your email address.

You should then receive an email from info@irishfunds.ie From the email, please select the ‘Reset Password’ button, this will bring you to a link to reset your password, and then please follow the instructions provided.

Recent member only resources of significant interest include:

• Irish Funds Guide on Operational Resilience

• Irish Funds CEO Forum Write-Up

• Updated Irish Funds Key Policy Messages

• Funds Sector Review 2030 Consultation Submission

Please contact us at memberportal@irishfunds.ie if you have any questions or need assistance.

Green Team Network Update

2023 has been a year of continued growth for the Green Team Network, a funds industry initiative aimed at connecting people and empowering change towards a sustainable environment.

There were a number of significant firsts for the Green Team Network this year so far, including:

• 800+  subscribers on www.greenteamnetwork.ie

• 2,500+ followers on LinkedIn

• 20+ firms are now from the Irish Funds Industry signed up to the Green Pledge and the first ever peer exchange round table for participants took place in Sept.

• 5 in-person GTN educational and networking events (including events hosted by Kroll, EY, The Panel and Waystone - the latter on the official agenda for Climate Finance Week 2023 on 22 November). 

• GTN also got out al fresco with 2 tree planting outings and a national GTN Cleanup.

• The inaugural Irish Funds Climate Challenge took place in April mobilising 2,300+ people (23 teams) across the industry to log over 229,000 sustainability focused daily activities (e.g. eating less meat, greener travel, using less water etc). The Climate Challenge will be back in 2024 with plans to be bigger and better and asks you to factor this in to your employee engagement around sustainability and to take part next year.