Carey Olsen's "top three" placing

Wednesday 07 January 2015

Carey Olsen is the only Jersey legal advisor to significantly increase the number of funds it advises for the year ending 30 June 2014, according to the 2014 Monterey Insight Jersey Funds Report.

The report has recognised Carey Olsen as the only legal adviser in the top three placed firms to have gained percentage market share by the number of funds it advises for the year ending 30 June 2014.

The offshore law firm has moved into second place by number of funds advised in Jersey, which was up to 381 from 321 the previous year, securing 20.81% of total market share.  Conversely, the other two law firms in the top three have seen a decline in numbers for the total number of funds they advise.

The in-depth publication assesses the volume and value of activity among advisers to Jersey's funds sector, ranking administrators, auditors, custodians, promoters and legal advisers by the number of funds they advise and by assets under management. It includes data on open- and closed-ended schemes, qualifying investor schemes and non-domiciled schemes that are serviced on the island. The research is based on the Jersey Financial Services Commission's (JFSC) list of regulated schemes.

Carey Olsen has been involved in many significant fund listings and private equity fund raisings in Jersey over the past year including the establishment of the first regulated Bitcoin Investment Fund for Global Advisors and advising Kennedy Wilson Europe Real Estate plc. on both its unprecedented £1 billion fund raise through its initial public offering (IPO) on the London Stock Exchange’s (LSE) main market and secondary raise of £351.5 million through a placing and open offer.

Carey Olsen funds partner, James Mulholland, said: "This is a ground-breaking year for our Jersey funds practice with some significant milestones reached, a number of high-profile completions and some interesting deals in the pipeline. Our relationships with clients and the onshore advisers we work alongside continue to grow, as does our commitment to positioning Jersey as a leading jurisdiction on the global funds stage. These results show positive growth for Carey Olsen as we continue to develop our funds offering in Jersey."

In the domiciled tables, which include all Jersey domiciled permit-holding and COBO funds, Carey Olsen increased its footing by 26 funds over the previous year for the number of funds advised. In the non-domiciled tables, which include all Jersey non domiciled permit-holding and COBO funds, the number grew by 36.

In terms of total assets under management across both domiciled and non-domiciled funds, the firm gained a 2% market share, bringing its total to 18.9% and marking the largest percentage increase in the legal adviser table.

The results follow the recent publication of Legal 500 UK where Carey Olsen's investment funds practice was also ranked in the top tier across the Channel Islands.