Irish funds hit $500bn mark

The value of the Irish funds industry has broken the $500 billion (€395 billion) mark the for the first time, the latest figures…

The value of the Irish funds industry has broken the $500 billion (€395 billion) mark the for the first time, the latest figures show, writes Barry O'Halloran.

The latest edition of Fitzrovia International's 'Dublin Fund Encylopaedia' shows that in June of this year, the total net assets of Irish-domiciled funds was $503.3 billion.

The figure represented growth of over 30 per cent in assets based in the State on June 2003, when their value stood at $375.4 billion. The assets were held in 2,208 funds and subfunds, Fitzrovia said.

At the same time, the figures show that the total net assets of all funds serviced in the Republic, which includes those administered here, came to $768.7 billion.

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Fitzrovia's figures show that the State's biggest law firm, A&L Goodbody, was the leading legal adviser by net asset value in June of this year.

It acted for fund managers responsible for $149 billion, or 26 per cent of all funds based in the State.

Next in line was Dillon Eustace with $128.8 billion, William Fry took the third slot with $106 billion, Matheson Ormsby Prentice was fourth with $94 billion and Arthur Cox was fifth with $74.3 billion.

In total, 10 law firms represented fund managers responsible for a total of $578 billion between them.

Commenting on Fitzrovia's findings, Mr Brian McDermott, head of investment funds at A&L Goodbody, said the firm was delighted to have held on to its position as market leader.

Fitzrovia International plc is a UK-based independent investment fund research company.