Expertise
Matheson's Asset Management and Investment Funds Department was ranked by the Monterey Insight Ireland Fund Report, the leading independent industry survey, as Ireland's leading practice by assets under management for the twelfth year in a row in 2022. The Monterey Insight Ireland Fund Report 2022 reveals that Matheson continues to rank first for Irish domiciled funds based on the assets under management and first amongst both domiciled and non-domiciled funds as at 30 June 2022.
Our dedicated team is comprised of over 70 legal professionals, led by 14 partners.
We are experts in all aspects of UCITS including structured UCITS, UCITS ETFs, money market funds, UCITS platforms, UCITS pursuing alternative or hedge fund strategies, traditional long only equity and bond funds.
Our experience in alternative funds also sets us apart from our competitors. We have advised on alternative investment funds investing in pharmaceutical royalties, life settlements, property, currencies, commodities, bank loans, private equity, other hedge funds and on all hedge fund strategies including long/short, event driven, arbitrage, global macro, distressed debt and multi-strategy amongst others. Our market-leading expertise on AIFMD includes advising on the first AIFM authorisation in Europe and the first inward AIFMD management passport into Ireland. Our partners have advised numerous funds on transition to AIFMD.
The reputation of the Asset Management and Investment Funds Department amongst industry professionals and our involvement in the development of the industry is reflected by the appointment of managing partner Michael Jackson as chairman of the International Financial Services Centre Funds Group Legislative Committee, established by the Department of An Taoiseach (the Irish Prime Minister), and his 2009/2010 chairmanship of the Irish funds industry association (“Irish Funds”). Our partners Tara Doyle, Dualta Counihan, Shay Lydon, Liam Collins, Philip Lovegrove and Michelle Ridge are all members of Irish Funds committees in the areas of hedge funds and alternative investment funds, exchange traded funds, UCITS V, client assets, private equity funds, distribution in Asia and Latin America and European Long Term Investment Funds. At European level, Shay Lydon is a member of the European Fund and Asset Management Association (“EFAMA”) UCITS Working Group and Liam Collins has been appointed as the Irish Funds representative to the EFAMA Financial Benchmarks Working Group, Philip Lovegrove is a member of the EFAMA ETFs Working Group and Tara Doyle is a member of the EFAMA ESG Standing Committee.
All of our partners are regular contributors to European and Irish consultations on the development of asset management and funds regulation. Submissions have been made by the Asset Management and Investment Funds Department towards the development of the Central Bank’s policy in a number of areas, including multi-manager funds, structured UCITS using tailored derivatives at share class level, and loan origination by qualified investor alternative investment funds.
With our team of 70 asset management legal and regulatory advisers working alongside Matheson taxation, structured finance and commercial litigation departments, we offer a comprehensive service for clients. As we are one of the few law firms in Ireland with a specialist derivatives practice, we have an unrivalled capacity to provide combined asset management, tax and derivatives advice to our clients. Our regulatory compliance and risk management team assists with authorisations of new investment managers, administrators and custodians, compliance requirements and Central Bank administrative sanctions. In addition to this, we provide a full investment funds listing services, a specialist outsourcing advisory practice and a dedicated investment funds company secretarial service, with online board-room facilities for our clients.
Our Team
Our dedicated team comprises over 70 legal professionals in total, led by 14 partners.
- Catriona Cole
- Liam Collins
- Dualta Counihan
- Tara Doyle
- Orlaith Finan
- Elizabeth Grace
- Anthony Gaskin
- Eunan Hession
- Michael Jackson
- Philip Lovegrove
- Shay Lydon
- Barry O’Connor
- Donal O’Byrne
- Michelle Ridge
Representative experience of the Asset Management and Investment Funds Group includes:
- The launch of a wide range of UCITS products including traditional long only equity, bond and money market funds; alternative and structured products; ETFs; UCITS employing eligible strategies including long/short (130/30) equity, credit, currency, interest rate, volatility strategies and eligible financial indices.
- Acting for over half of Irish domiciled money market funds by AUM, with industry leading experience in innovative areas such as negative yield / reverse distribution mechanisms and T setting accumulation share classes.
- First AIFM authorised in Europe.
- First inward AIFMD management passport into Ireland.
- First to advise on bank loan funds using special purpose subsidiaries.
- First Irish domiciled pharmaceutical royalties funds.
- First Irish domiciled US life assurance policies funds.
- First Irish “China” fund, a mutual fund investing in China A shares.
- First Brazilian promoted Irish domiciled hedge fund.
- First Irish funds promoted by Dubai and Saudi Arabian financial institutions.
- First structured UCITS investment limited partnerships investing in property assets.
- Third party manager platforms (UCITS and QIAIFs).
- Liability driven investment funds.
- Insurance linked investment funds.
- Structured fund platforms.
- Shariah-compliant UCITS and AIFs.
- Bank loan funds using section 110 subsidiaries for several large international investment managers, including a hybrid fund/CLO structure.
- Hedge funds using a variety of strategies including arbitrage, macro, directional, event-driven, long/short, market neutral, directional and quantitative and permitting direct investment and investment in fund of funds and feeder fund structures.
- Irish, European and US commercial and residential property / real estate funds.
- Commodities funds.
- Renewable energy funds.
- Retail funds of hedge funds.
- Exchange traded and other index tracking funds, including physical and synthetic replication and smart beta funds.
- Private equity fund of funds and feeder funds (gaining exposure to structures in Cayman, Jersey, Bermuda, Guernsey and a number of other domiciles worldwide).
- Common contractual funds for multinational groups seeking tax transparent asset pooling solutions.
- Listing of Irish and non-Irish domiciled funds on the Irish Stock Exchange.
- Management company establishment.
- Negotiation of contracts on behalf of administrators, custodians and prime brokers.
"A highly trusted adviser; commercially focused (not just old school law firm v client)."
Investment Funds: IFLR1000 33rd edition 2023
"Commercially focused and they provide excellent technical and industry knowledge. Professional and efficient service."
Investment Funds: IFLR1000 33rd edition 2023
"Professional, commercial, approachable, reliable and very responsive. Trusted advisers from a business standpoint."
Investment Funds: IFLR1000 33rd edition 2023
"Very responsive; very to-the-point and practical."
Asset Finance: IFLR1000 33rd edition 2023
"Extremely responsive and engaged."
Asset Finance: IFLR1000 33rd edition 2023
Investment Funds: The Legal 500 2023
Investment Funds: The Legal 500 2023
Investment Funds: The Legal 500 2023
"Technically strong and with good knowledge of the local market and regulatory environment. Sound knowledge of the regulators and developing trends."
Investment Funds: IFLR1000 2022
"The firm are very professional, responsive and have an incredible depth of knowledge in the wide variety of areas that we use them for. They have an answer for every question we throw at them and are very pragmatic in their response and approach. "
Investment Funds: IFLR1000 2022
"Excellent broad coverage. Very responsive and professional to deal with. Very pragmatic and friendly. "
Investment Funds: IFLR1000 2022
"Matheson provide thorough advice efficiently and always make themselves available immediately."
Asset Finance: IFLR1000 2022
"Extremely professional and high-quality services."
Asset Finance: IFLR1000 2022
"Extremely thorough and professional organisation that is also very responsive to both my firm's needs as well as the needs of my clients."
Asset Finance: IFLR1000 2022
“Knowledgeable about: fund law and practice, fund structuring, regulator requirements, and is an experienced capable team.”
The Legal 500 2022
"Bespoke client focus to deliver in a timely manner."
The Legal 500 2022
"Client focused, networking, team players, working with multi jurisdictional cross-border clients and transactions seamlessly. A can do attitude."
The Legal 500 2022
"They know the law and the market inside out and they apply that knowledge practically and simply."
The Legal 500 2022
“Matheson provide responsive and well-resourced advice on investment funds and related issues and offer good insight on latest developments at industry level and arising out of discussions with the Central Bank of Ireland.”
IFLR1000 2021
“They are knowledgeable at a legislative level but more importantly at industry and regulatory level meaning they provide very practical advice and direction.”
IFLR1000 2021
"Market-leading team in investment funds. The team is made up of industry experts, best of breed technically, superbly resourced, hungry to support their client base to the best of standards and do so exceptionally well".
The Legal 500 2021
The Legal 500 2021
"I would highly recommend Matheson, particularly Philip Lovegrove. A very knowledgeable team and a pleasure to deal with".
The Legal 500 2021
The team "offers a very deep bench of talented lawyers and has a great number of resources it can apply if we need bulk support and lots of input over a short amount of time, and the lawyers cooperate and collaborate very well and efficiently".
Chambers Europe 2021
"The team is superb in the sense that the lawyers really care - not just about giving good advice but also that no deadline is missed or that I'm aware of any potential opportunity to do things more efficiently. I feel like they have my back and technically they are second to none".
Chambers Europe 2021
Matheson not only has “great legal knowledge but the ability to apply it practically”.
European Legal 500 2019
"They have excellent technical and industry knowledge and are always welcoming".
IFLR1000 2019
"The dual partner model they run works very well to ensure coverage and expertise across a range of projects, and is relatively unique".
Chambers Europe 2018
Matheson is "a very good fund service provider with supporting regulatory expertise".
European Legal 500 2018
"Focused on giving top-quality advice".
Chambers Europe 2018
"The best firm in Dublin for this type of work: they have unrivalled knowledge and expertise, are quick to react and user-friendly."
Chambers Europe 2017
"Excellent, leaders in the field, dynamic and innovative."
IFLR1000 2017
Matheson's Asset Management and Investment Funds Department produces updates and briefing notes on the main issues affecting the Irish and European investment fund industry, together with information on Ireland as an international fund domicile and establishing investment funds in Ireland. To view our full investment funds publications library, click here.
Continued Regulatory Focus on Governance and Substance - December 2022
The Central Bank of Ireland (“Central Bank”) has continued to focus on compliance by fund management companies (“FMCs”) with its FMC framework, which includes requirements and guidance regarding the sound organisation and governance, effective management and appropriate oversight of FMCs. Read More>
European Regulators Seeking Evidence of Greenwashing - November 2022
The European Supervisory Authorities have issued a Call for Evidence on Greenwashing to gather information to enable them to understand the key features, drivers and risks associated with greenwashing and to collect examples of potential greenwashing practices. Read More>
Central Bank of Ireland Introduces Macroprudential Measures for Property Funds - November 2022
The Central Bank of Ireland has introduced macroprudential measures for property funds, which include limits on leverage and guidance on liquidity timeframes. This follows a consultation issued at the end of 2021 (“CP145”). Read More>
EU Regulators Provide Guidance on SFDR Level 2 Requirements - November 2022
Just six weeks before the application of the regulatory technical standards adopted under the Sustainable Finance Disclosures Regulation on 1 January 2023, the European Supervisory Authorities published a questions and answers document addressing questions of interpretation and practical issues relating to the use of the templates provided in the RTS. Read More>
Central Bank of Ireland Speech and Information Note on Sustainable Finance and the Asset Management Industry - November 2022
On 14 November 2022, the Central Bank of Ireland hosted a seminar on the Sustainable Finance Disclosures Regulation for the asset management sector, a further step in the ongoing constructive engagement with the regulator in relation to the implementation of the SFDR and the related EU Taxonomy Regulation. Read More>
Proposed Amendments to SFDR RTS to include Nuclear and Gas Activities - November 2022
On 31 October 2022, the European Commission adopted a delegated regulation and annexes amending and correcting the regulatory technical standards under the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation to include nuclear and gas disclosures. Read More>
ESMA Consultation on Fund Names Using ESG or Sustainability-related Terms - November 2022
The European Securities and Markets Authority has issued a consultation on draft guidelines on the use in funds’ names of ESG or sustainability-related terms. Read More>
The PRIIPs Regulation and Investment Funds - July 2022
The EU Regulation on Key Information Documents for Packaged Retail and Insurance-based Investment Products (the “PRIIPs Regulation”)1 has applied since 1 January 2018. The PRIIPs Regulation imposes obligations on any entity that manufactures or sells packaged retail and insurance based products (“PRIIPs”) to retail investors in the European Economic Area (“EEA”). Read More>
replacing their initial statement published in February 2021 (the “ESAs’ Supervisory Statement”). Read More >
2022 Horizon Scanning for Fund Managers - January 2022
Fund managers may have been relieved to see out 2021, a year in which all funds had to be classified as Article 6, Article 8 or Article 9 funds under the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (“SFDR”) in advance of the 10 March deadline. Read More >
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Our detailed briefing notes provide comprehensive overviews on establishing various types of investment funds, the available fund vehicles and the applicable regulatory regimes.
Ireland as an International Fund Domicile
Ireland is internationally recognised as one of the world’s most advantageous jurisdictions in which to establish international investment funds. Fund vehicles with many different characteristics can be established in Ireland as Irish collective asset-management vehicles (ICAVs), investment companies, investment limited partnerships, unit trusts or common contractual funds. Read More >
Establishing Structured Funds in Ireland
Many product producers who have traditionally used securitisation issues and structured products such as debt programmes, certificates,
collateralised loan obligations or collateralised debt obligations to structure their deals are now creating structured funds for their product
offerings. Read More >
ILP Key Features
The purpose of this briefing note is to provide an overview of the key features of Irish investment limited partnerships
(“ILPs”). Read More >
Establishing a UCITS
in Ireland
As an internationally recognised gold standard for investment funds, the undertakings for collective investment in transferable securities (“UCITS”)
brand has gone from strength to strength since its inception as a harmonised European investment fund more than twenty-five years ago. Read More >
Establishing a Qualifying
Investor AIF in Ireland
The qualifying investor alternative investment fund (“QIAIF”) has been one of the most successful fund structures in Ireland to date, its success reflecting the market appetite for a sophisticated regulated product facilitating hedge fund and other alternative investment strategies. Read More >
Establishing an Investment
Limited Partnership in Ireland
Ireland now has a ‘best-in breed’ regulated partnership vehicle building on Ireland’s position as the domicile of
choice for asset managers wishing to establish European investment funds. Read More >
Establishing an Exchange
Traded Fund in Ireland
The continued growth of ETFs is one of the most significant trends in the investment fund industry. It is estimated that, globally, ETFs and exchange traded products (“ETPs”) had assets of more than US$6.04 trillion as at the end of February 2020. Read More >
Establishing a Private Equity Fund in Ireland
The regulatory framework within which a private equity fund established in Ireland can sit is, in the vast majority of cases, best served by the highly
flexible Qualifying Investor Alternative Investment Fund (“QIAIF”). Read More >
ICAV Mergers
The Irish Collective Asset-management Vehicle (“ICAV”), Ireland’s newest investment fund vehicle, was introduced in March
2015. Read More >
Key Benefits and Features of the ICAV
The Irish Collective Asset-management Vehicle (“ICAV”), Ireland’s newest investment fund vehicle, was introduced in March 2015. Read More >
Establishing a Common Contractual Fund
The Irish CCF is a tax transparent cross-border investment vehicle designed to assist multinationals, their finance professionals and local pension plans to achieve economies of scale and enhanced governance. Read More >
