Professionals from across Jersey’s growing funds industry came together last month to explore the key trends shaping the cross-border funds landscape and celebrate Jersey’s achievements over the past year.

More than 400 people from across the industry, including lawyers, fund administrators, fund managers, compliance experts and accountants as well as politicians and regulatory representatives, attended this year’s Jersey Funds Association (JFA) Annual Dinner, held at the Trinity Showground on 28^th June.

Speaking at the event, Michael Johnson, JFA Chair, told the audience that, in a challenging year globally for the sector, Jersey had held its position well. In particular, he pointed to the ongoing success of the Jersey Private Fund (JPF) regime, with the total number of JPFs now standing at just over 700 – an increase of 100 since last year – whilst the total assets under administration in Jersey now sits at £520bn.

Nevertheless, he pointed to the need to maintain momentum if Jersey was to retain its leading position as a European funds domicile with global ambitions. He said:

“After five continuous years of growth, the performance over the past year was largely flat, which is a first for Jersey, but not unexpected given the incredibly difficult fundraising environment we have seen over the past year at a global level. The outlook remains calm but not stable, and we need to be alive to the macro conditions shaping our industry.”

In particular, Michael highlighted that alternatives – including private equity, real estate and venture capital - continue to represent 90% of Jersey’s total funds business, a model that has created a stable platform of long-term capital. However, there was now a risk of that model being buffeted by global trade-winds, with Michael urging caution in the face of increased competition as market conditions improve:

“There are brighter times on the horizon but we cannot be complacent. Investors are continuing to apply pressure and are focusing new commitments on a narrow swathe of funds. Equally the activity related to the mountain of dry powder available remains stunted by historical standards. It’s vital that Jersey recognises that these macro-economic and political circumstances are out of our control and finds ways to ensure it can keep its wheels turning.

“It’s critical that we focus acutely as a jurisdiction on what managers really care about when it comes to choosing a fund domicile and assert our core strengths – our speed and our high-quality service levels in particular. By embracing innovation and being agile, we can also enhance our product and service range, including exploring the introduction of a Jersey ELTIF solution and clarifying our virtual assets proposition, for instance.”

Vice Chair of the JFA Joel Hernandez pointed further to the need for targeted innovation, and the significant volume of technical issues the JFA had addressed over the past year. In particular, he highlighted updated guidance to the JPF and progress being made in the virtual assets space:

“The recently published updated JPF Guide will help evolve and modernise that product further. This includes widening the categories for eligible investors, mutual recognition for carry schemes that have an element of team co-investment and widening the categories for family and employment connections. A similar approach is also being taken to update the JFSC's guidance to industry on virtual assets, specifically the tokenisation of real-world assets. This is a clear trend and it’s vital that Jersey maintains its reputation for good practical guidance to secure its future in this space.”

Gold sponsor for the evening was Mourant and silver sponsors were IQEQ, PwC, Ogier and BNP Paribas whilst the champagne reception was sponsored by Carey Olsen and the NextGen table was hosted by Gen II and KPMG.

Emerging trends in the digitalisation of fund operations and the opportunities presented by a burgeoning tokenisation and virtual assets industry were amongst the issues explored at a recent event hosted by the Jersey Funds Association.

The event, held last month in Jersey, brought together a number of industry leaders and discussed the challenges facing organisations set against a backdrop of continued economic and political upheaval before considering the opportunity presented by digital assets and blockchain, the potential of AI to be transformative, and the pace of change in digital innovation.

Experts in their field also provided updates to more than 100 delegates on specific developments relevant to the funds sector, highlighting in particular the emerging use cases for AI within a cross-border funds context, such as digital ID and asset diversification, before questions were opened up to the audience.

Following an introduction from BDO Director Manik Memon, E&Y Partner Leo Boessenkool discussed the emerging trends in funds digital operations, underlining the role of AI in undertaking manual tasks within the sector to boost productivity, while Walkers Senior Counsel, Sarah Townsend, took a deep dive into Jersey’s position regarding fund tokenisation, pointing to the launch of Jersey’s first tokenisation platform earlier this year and imminent updates to Jersey’s ICO guidance notes .

Following were C5 Alliance Director John Gamble, who explored how to practically approach AI, highlighting in particular the importance of focusing on training AI on good quality data and addressing fairness and bias in integrating AI, whilst PwC Director David O’Brien talked the audience through operations powered by generative AI across private markets functions, including the application of Gen AI in preparing DDQs, portfolio reporting and legal document drafting.

Commenting, JFA Chairman Michael Johnson, said: “Market conditions over the past 12 months, combined with added pressures such as the retention of talent and increased regulatory and compliance demands, have created a complex picture within which the cross-border funds sector operates. There’s no doubt that the integration of digital solutions forms a key part in addressing some of those major challenges, from enhancing productivity and improving client experience to opening up new and diverse opportunities to grow our proposition.

“Jersey has a great track record in embracing digital solutions, but it’s clear that the pace of change is relentless and we need to continue to move faster and faster if we are to remain competitive and at the forefront of the global alternative funds space. With that in mind, I was really pleased to see such interest at out latest JFA seminar in how Jersey is applying digital solutions to bolster its funds capabilities and support investors and managers with their increasingly digital ambitions.”

Funds Europe recently held a roundtable looking at Jersey's growing expertise and experience in tokenisation and digital assets.

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Specialists from across Jersey's funds sector explored the shift towards a rising importance of digitalisation within the private markets, and how Jersey is innovating to meet that demand

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Read the full roundtable here.

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New regulation, both domestic and international, is creating significant opportunities for Jersey’s funds sector – but at the same time is requiring industry participants to be more agile than ever before, according to speakers at a recently held Masterclass event organised by the Jersey Funds Association (JFA).

Expert speakers at the recent event, held in September at the Royal Yacht Hotel and attended by over 50 industry representatives from Jersey's funds sector as well as colleagues from the Government of Jersey and the Jersey Financial Services Commission (JFSC), provided valuable insights into the evolving regulatory environment and the impact on Jersey’s funds sector.

In particular, the event emphasised the significant ongoing regulatory changes in both the UK and EU, including the UK’s ongoing efforts to enhance its ecosystem for asset managers and the EU’s review of the AIFMD. Prem Mohan, Partner at Kirkland and Ellis, highlighted how evolutions to AIFMD II could bring greater compliance challenges, whilst also pointing to how National Private Placement (NPP) arrangements, such as those through Jersey, still provide a good route to EU capital for non-EU managers with the current expectation that the NPP regime will remain in place for the mid-term.

Helen De La Cour, Director of Financial Services for he Government of Jersey highlighted Jersey's focus on developing regulation to ensure inclusive and appropriate access to financial services while being committed to enabling the funds sector to continue to grow and innovate.

David Eacott, Executive Director of Supervision at the Jersey Financial Services Commission (JFSC) shared his observations on Jersey's funds sector from his first half-year in post leading the JFSC's supervisory activities. David pointed to tokenisation and digital assets being very much on the JFSC's agenda.

Closing the session, David Postlethwaite, Sustainability and ESG Lead at KPMG, explored how ESG regulation was being integrated across the funds sector and how managers were having to increasingly apply an ESG lens to their due diligence procedures – something that is driving greater data sophistication when it comes to reporting and disclosure.

Jon Stevens, Chair of the JFA’s Regulatory and Compliance Sub-Committee and Deputy Managing Director of Mourant Consulting, hosted the event. He commented:

"Our latest Masterclass offered our broad funds sector a valuable opportunity to delve into crucial areas of regulatory progress. It’s clear that regulation in multiple areas – from sustainable finance and digital assets to domestic compliance and shifting international standards– are all impacting our industry, and firms at all levels of the supply chain are having to be nimble in responding to those changes.

“At the same time, Jersey has an opportunity to playa role in the inter-operability of these regulatory changes – helping investors to navigate and make sense of what it all means, across borders. And that will be an invaluable role for Jersey's funds practitioners to play in the years to come. Against that backdrop, I’m really pleased that there was such strong interest in our latest Masterclass event.”

Further details about the JFA’s Masterclass series and other events can be found here.

A new white paper published by IFI Global and supported by Jersey Finance has highlighted how the rapid growth of asset tokenisation is set to transform the cross-border funds industry over the coming years.

The paper, ‘The Tokenisation of Real Assets', highlights that forecasts for the growth of asset tokenisation are universally bullish, with one report predicting that asset tokenisation will grow into a US$16.1 trillion business by 2030 (BCG and ADDX).

It goes on to explore why asset tokenisation is on the cusp of widespread global adoption and how real assets, including private equity and real estate, are likely to be substantially impacted by tokenisation in the coming years.

In particular, the paper points to some of the major benefits of tokenisation for managers of real assets, but also highlights that there are a number of challenges the industry will need to overcome before it can realise its full potential.

You can read the full white paper here.