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Maples, Matheson top funds-advice lists

Maples and Calder was the leading legal adviser to Irish-serviced funds for the tenth year in a row last year, according to a new report. Matheson again topped the rankings for Irish-domiciled funds.

Research company Monterey Insight found that the value of Irish-domiciled funds fell by 12% to just over US $3.73 billion in the year to 30 June 2022.

The number of Irish funds and sub-funds grew by more than 7% to 6,443 during the same period.

Irish-serviced funds

For all funds serviced in Ireland (including non-domiciled funds under administration or custody in Ireland) Maples Group continued to lead, providing legal advice to 1,532 funds.

Dillon Eustace was second (1,317), and Matheson third (1,245).

Matheson topped the ranking by assets, however, advising funds worth $936 billion.

For Irish-domiciled funds only, Matheson ranked first, advising 1,238 funds, followed by Dillon Eustace (1,229), and Maples Group (1,077).

Matheson also topped the assets ranking for Irish-domiciled funds, advising on just under $931 billion of funds.

‘Reassuring’

Tara Doyle (Matheson partner and head of asset-management and investment funds) described 2022 as “a challenging year” for the global funds industry, as significant market volatility affected all sectors.

“Against that backdrop, it was reassuring that the number of Irish-domiciled funds established by our clients, and the market more generally, continued to grow,” she stated.

Doyle added that it had been a particularly busy year for launches of ESG (environmental, social, and governance) funds.

ESG to dominate

Eimear O'Dwyer (Maples Group co-head of Irish funds and investment management) said that, while the past few years had brought challenges, they had forced the firm to “pivot and review our service offering in certain areas”.

She stated that she expected ESG funds to continue to be a dominant theme in 2023.

“The addition of dedicated financial-services regulatory and governance expertise, and the recent launch of our new ESG solutions was a natural evolution of our offering,” said Adam Donohue (Maples Group co-head of Irish funds and investment management).