The total assets of Irish Qualifying Investor Funds (QIFs) grew by 35 per cent to €153 billion during 2010, according to figures just released from the Central Bank of Ireland.

The data reveals that the net asset value of QIFs grew by 19 per cent in the past two months alone.

This news follows previous figures which showed that the net asset value of all Irish domiciled funds reached an all time high of €963 billion at year end 2010 – up 29 per cent from €748 billion at year end 2009.

Recently published data from Hedge Fund Research (HFR) revealed that the proportion of the world’s hedge funds domiciled in Ireland doubled to 7.4 per cent by the end of the third quarter of 2010 from the end of 2009 – making Ireland the third most popular hedge fund domicile globally, and the European domicile of choice as the home to 63 per cent of all European hedge funds.

Gary Palmer, CEO at Irish Funds Industry Association, said: “As the industry in general moves towards increased transparency and regulation, Ireland and the Irish QIF are in a prime position to offer solutions to alternative fund managers from across the globe.”

The association said the QIF is a well established, regulated investment fund vehicle, with the characteristics and flexibility of typical hedge fund products while authorised and regulated by the Central Bank.

As it already complies with the majority of the requirements of the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD), establishing an Irish QIF will be an efficient route to AIFMD compliance for both EU and non-EU AIFMs, according to the association.

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