Malta-domiciled funds authorised by the MFSA have increased by 4% in the first half of 2012 with a total of 65 new collective investment scheme licences being issued by the local authority. By way of comparative analysis this resulted in a better performance when examined in relation to the outcome of other EU jurisdictions where growth rates reached 2% as of last June, with other countries also experiencing negative growth rates. The new licences issued by the MFSA were granted to 59 Professional Investor Funds, 5 UCITS funds and 1 retail non-UCITS fund.
In view of these figures and other significant accomplishments, Malta has established itself as a fund domicile of international repute, serving the domestic and European and international markets, with most of this success being attributed to the country’s legislation for PIFs.
From this relative perspective, PIFs’ net asset value increased by almost 23%, from €5.8 billion in December 2011 to €7.2 billion last June. The number of PIFs also increased by almost 4% at the end of June, resulting in a €0.7 billion increase from the end of 2011 – this figure translates itself into an impressive 40% increase.
In view of these achievements Malta is now home to numerous fund managers and administrators: about 40% of Malta-domiciled funds were managed by Malta-based fund managers at the end of June 2012, whilst 47% are managed from outside Malta.
According to the MFIA, about 70% of the funds domiciled in Malta were administered in Malta in June as a result of the high quality fund administration services provided by Malta-based administrators.
