The Jersey Financial Services Commission (JFSC) has reported a strong uptake in the Jersey Private Fund (JPF), with 100 structures being formed less than a year since its launch.
The hundredth JPF was registered by the JFSC last week (2nd March), underlining the interest in the product since it was launched in mid-March last year.
The latest addition to Jersey’s suite of fund structuring options, the JPF was introduced to provide institutional and professional investors with a more streamlined and fast-track regime with tailored ongoing regulatory requirements, under which funds for up to 50 investors could be established in as little as 48 hours.
By providing a more flexible and versatile framework, the JPF has markedly improved the speed and ease with which funds marketed to professional investors can be established, whilst at the same time ensuring continued compliance with international standards by requiring the appointment of a Jersey-based administrator.
The JPF is also available to managers seeking some vital certainty in marketing their funds into Europe through National Private Placement Regimes (NPPRs).
Commenting on the 100th registration of the JPF, Geoff Cook, CEO, Jersey Finance, said: “We’re focused on providing forward-thinking solutions for the alternative funds community to ensure their future success, and the JPF is an example of that. Our excellent reputation as a specialist funds centre is based on our ability to provide genuine speed to market and expertise as well as appropriate regulatory oversight. The clear evidence is that the prospect of 48-hour authorisation for funds with up to 50 investors is playing out well amongst fund managers and cementing our position as a market leader.”
John Harris, director general, JFSC, added: “The 100th JPF approval marks a successful and welcome milestone in the positive development of Jersey’s fund offering. The encouraging market take up of the JPF since its launch in 2017 strongly suggests the right balance has been found between product innovation on the one hand and on the other proportionate regulatory treatment that works with such innovation whilst still delivering an appropriate level of investor safeguards. The JFSC is pleased to play its part in this clear success story.”
Pointing to the fact that the majority of JPFs are newly created fund vehicles, rather than conversions from existing structures, Mike Byrne, Chairman, Jersey Funds Association, said:
“In less than a year, the JPF has really come to the fore as the go-to product for alternative fund structuring, right across the private equity, real estate, infrastructure and debt and credit fund asset classes. It’s particularly pleasing that the vast majority of JPFs are brand new funds – indeed, some of the largest funds brought to market globally this year have been structured as JPFs. It’s a really positive indication as to the future health of our funds industry, and we fully expect this upward trajectory to continue.”
