Continued Growth in Malta's Fund Industry
Latest statistics issued by the Malta Financial Services Authority ('MFSA') reveals continued growth in Malta's Funds Industry. The continued growth in Malta's funds industry has been confirmed by the statistics provided by the MFSA which shows that new registrations over the period December 2015 to June 2016 grew by 3.5%. In comparision, jurisdictions such as Ireland (1%) Luxembourg (0.7%) and Germany (0.3%) reported slower margins of growth.
The number of Alternative Investment Funds and Professional Investor Funds registered the strongest growth whilst UCIT Schemes and Retail Non-UCIT Schemes remained at stable levels. The Net Asset Value of Alternative Investment Funds reached €1.82 billion, representing an increase of almost €180 million when compared 2015, whilst the Net Asset Value of Professional Investor Funds reported a decline of €350 million. As at June, 2016 the number of domiciled fund listed on the Malta Stock Exchange stood at 25.
The number of self-managed funds (including sub-funds) represents 35% percent of registered funds Malta This represents an increase of 2.4% when compared to the full year statistics of 2015. The continued growth in Malta's Funds Industry is also seen through the number of funds which are managed by fund / asset managers which are established and regulated in Malta. In fact 31% percent of funds are managed by locally based fund managers, with 34% being managed by fund managers established in other jurisdictions. From a fund administration point of view 83% of funds domiciled in Malta are administered by local fund administrators, reflecting an increase of 2.4% at the end of June 2016. From a structuring point of view, promoter and fund managers have continued to prefer the multi-fund structure with 78% of all structures being established in this manner. Standalone structures account for 17% whilst master-feeder structures popularity stood at 5% of all structures.
In a recent interview given by the Chairman of the MFSA, Professor Bannister expressed his satisfaction in respect of continued growth in Malta's Funds Industry. The Chairman noted that whilst the assets under managment is of €10 billion, the financial systems as a whole which includes, custody, trust, managed accounts, pension funds and corporate services, accounts for €100 billion.
