Never has this been truer than now, with greater regulatory & political complexities and the rise of digitalisation prompting fund managers and investors to seek jurisdictions that can offer an ideal ecosystem to fulfil their ambitions securely, safely and efficiently.

The increased desire to access private funds, which are traditionally reserved for institutional and high-net worth retail investors has also accelerated a trend towards democratisation, or ‘retailisation’. It’s a trend that is reshaping the capital-raising landscape and requiring fund domiciles to adapt in tandem.

It is an exciting time, but not one without its challenges. Fund domiciles, like Jersey, need to work increasingly hard to balance a regulatory framework that protects investors with a clear commitment towards innovation.

Staying relevant

From a jurisdictional perspective, the challenge for fund domiciles has always been to stay relevant.

That is why, a few decades ago, as financial centres within the EU launched their retail fund offering under the UCITS directive. Jersey started repositioning its funds proposition, shifting towards alternative funds for institutional and expert investors.

As part of this shift, Jersey’s launched its Expert Fund Regime in 2004 positioning the Island strongly within the alternative investment funds market and providing a platform from which to build a reputation as a specialist centre.

Since then, a full spectrum of fund solutions, from highly regulated retail funds to lighter touch options for smaller groups of sophisticated or institutional investors, has been developed.

This has included the popular Jersey Private Fund (JPF), providing up to 50 professional investors an efficient, cost-effective, regulatory-light vehicle. As at June 2024, over 700 JPFs had been established.

More recently, the launch of a Jersey Limited Liability Company (LLC) in 2023 has expanded Jersey’s offering further by adding a new choice of structure – intended to be familiar to US managers in particular.

Tokenisation

The one concept, however, that looks set to disrupt the funds space is tokenisation.

As the virtual asset landscape evolves, the requirement for robust regulatory frameworks will be crucial. Jurisdictions will need to be well-versed in the challenges if they are to offer an ecosystem that facilitates opportunity while being regulatorily sound.

In this respect, Jersey has already set itself apart thanks to a collaborative approach taken by its financial services industry, government and the Jersey Financial Services Commission (JFSC). This approach led to Jersey regulating the world’s first Bitcoin fund a decade ago. Since then, Jersey has become the first jurisdiction to apply an AML control framework for virtual currency exchanges in 2016 and to formulate ICO guidance in 2018.

Earlier this year, the JFSC published updated guidance on the tokenisation of real-world assets, which provides greater certainty to issuers and investors and clarity around Jersey’s approach to regulating such assets. Essentially, treating them in the same way as securitisation structures.

It’s a pragmatic and progressive response to perhaps the most significant trend in the funds space at the moment and it’s already being welcomed by leading players in the industry.

Bank Frick, for instance, recently selected Jersey to launch its platform for providing the securitisation of virtual assets and the issuance of actively managed certificates (AMCs) to professional investors.

Remaining future-fit

In a world where market forces continue to exert pressure, fund domiciles need to provide a genuine platform of stability and certainty, but there is still plenty of scope to innovate too.

In this light, Jersey’s positioning as politically and fiscally stable, combined with its world class digital infrastructure and track-record in strategic innovation, should stand it in good stead as a domicile that can continue to support shifting investor needs.