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Value of Irish funds industry grows, reversing 2022 decline

Growth driven in part by an increase in the value of exchange-traded funds during the year

The value of the Irish funds industry grew last year

Barry J Whyte
Fri Feb 2 2024 - 06:00

The Irish funds industry grew by nearly 8 per cent in 2023, from $5.1 trillion (€4.7 trillion) to $5.7 trillion, reversing the contraction it had experienced in 2022, newly compiled data shows.

The growth was in part driven by an increase in the value of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) during the year, according to research by Monterey Insight, an independent fund research company.

Adjusted for foreign-exchange fluctuations, it amounts to a rise from €5 trillion to €5.2 trillion, according to the research.

Monterey’s research assesses the size of the funds industry in Ireland based on the value of funds domiciled in Ireland as well as foreign-domiciled funds which are administered in Ireland.

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The value of funds domiciled in Ireland at the end of June 2023 was up by nearly 9 per cent to slightly more than $4 trillion, an increase on the previous year’s figure of $3.7 trillion in 2022.

The increase was driven in part by a surge in the value of exchange-traded equity funds in Ireland, which are investment vehicles that are tradable on stock exchanges, which now account for $766.4 billion of all the assets under management here.

ETFs have overtaken traditional money-market funds, which invest in short-term debt instruments and cash equivalents. The total value of money-market funds located in Ireland stood at $731.3 billion.

The full value of the $5.7 trillion size of the Irish funds industry funds domiciled in the likes of the Cayman Islands and Luxembourg but administered through Ireland. Of that full value, the largest proportion was in alternative investment funds, mostly hedge funds, which accounted for just over $1 trillion.

The biggest promoter of Irish-domiciled schemes was BlackRock Financial Management, which had total net assets of just over $1 trillion, followed by Vanguard Group with $232 billion and then Pimco with $181.5 billion. BlackRock also had the largest share of both domiciled and non-domiciled funds, with $1.04 trillion.

PwC was the biggest auditor of funds in Ireland, auditing a total of 2,564 funds with $1.3 trillion in assets. KPMG audited 1,992 funds with assets worth $1 trillion. And Deloitte was in third with 1,950 funds, though the value of the assets in those funds was $1.3 trillion.

Dillon Eustace was the top legal firm used by funds in Ireland when ranked by the number of funds to which they provided services, with 1,418 funds. Matheson was second with 1,229 and Maples Group had 1,011.

By value of the assets in the funds, Matheson was top with $1 trillion, William Fry was in third with $915.7 billion and Dillon Eustace was in third.

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