The country currently has legislation which allows for Variable Capital Investment Companies, the Unit Trusts, Common Contractual Funds and Investment Limited Partnership and Sicavs, which are common in large parts of Western Europe, particularly Luxembourg and France, will sit alongside these.
According to Ken Owens, a partner at the Dublin office of PriceWaterhouseCoopers, the impetus behind the proposal comes from the local asset management’s view that there will be a “gap in the current structures available in Ireland” once the new Alternative Investment Fund Management Directive has been implemented.
“The development of this alternative corporate fund structure is one of a number of steps which the industry in Ireland is undertaking as part of its preparations for the implementation of the AIFMD,” said Owens.