Invest a little time in choosing fund managers

When selecting one fund provider over another, it may also be worthwhile for investors to know a little bit about the company with which they are placing their funds and the investment team which will manage them.

Bank of Ireland Asset Management (BIAM) is the largest domestic fund manager in the Republic with €20 billion (£15.7 billion) in Irish assets under management. The bank also owns New Ireland which it acquired four years ago but which is run as a standalone business.

Other large players include Irish Life Investment Managers (ILIM), which manages €15 billion of clients' funds and Allied Irish Bank Investment Managers (AIBIM).

Among the medium to smaller players are Hibernian Investment Managers (HIM) which was taken over last year by Britain's Commercial General Union (CGU) and had €6.6 billion under management at the end of last year.

Meanwhile, Friends First, which traces its roots to the Quaker movement in the 1830s, had assets of $4.2 billion under management at the end of December. Eagle Star, which is owned by Zurich Financial Services and has been operating in the Republic since 1978, has around €3.2 billion under management, while Setanta Asset Management, the fund management arm of Canada Life, was managing €2.7 billion at end-December.

EBS is a smaller player on the investment scene. The building society launched its summit funds a decade ago but has been competing aggressively in this market of late, particularly on charges. Its asset management team is advised by investment firm Montgomery Oppenheim which has performed strongly in recent years. EBS increased its funds under management by 90 per cent to €354 million last year.

As in other sectors, there has been considerable activity in the financial services sector in recent years. Among the more recent developments was the merger of the operations of CGU, Hibernian and Norwich Union which saw the investment operations consolidated under the Hibernian Investment Managers brand name.

The corporate changes have had knock-on effects on the company's products, most notably on the charging structure of Hibernian's funds which has been greatly simplified.

Other moves in the sector in recent years included Irish Life's merger with Irish Permanent and the more recent acquisition of TSB which helped expand its retail network, and the launch of Quinn Life last year.

Corporate changes have also triggered personnel changes in an industry where expertise is important.

Among the more notable changes were the departure of Friends First investment director, Mr Pramit Ghose, for Hibernian last year, and the decision by the managing director of AIB's investment arm, Mr Maurice Harte, to leave to join property group Treasury Holdings.