Wealth & Finance International - January 2017

Wealth & Finance International 26 Alternative Investment Fund Strategies eadquartered in Dublin, the firm also has offices in London, New York and Palo Alto. More than 600 people work across the four offices, including 80 partners and tax principals and over 350 legal and tax professionals. The firm’s strength in depth is spread across more than 20 distinct practice areas, including asset management and investment funds, banking and financial services, commercial litigation and dispute resolution, corporate, insurance, international business and tax. This broad spread of expertise and legal know-how allows Matheson to provide best-in-class advice to clients on all facets of the law. Matheson’s Asset Management and Investment Funds team is led by 12 partners and comprises over 50 fund professionals in total. The team is ranked by independent industry research as the top ranked funds practice in Ireland, acting for 29% of Irish domiciled investment funds by assets under management. Advising the world’s leading institutional fund managers, its client base includes 6 of the top 10 global promoters of Irish funds, 8 of the top 10 US asset managers and the world’s 4 largest asset managers. The group advises on all matters relating to the establishment and ongoing operation of fund products including AIFs, manager platforms, private equity and property funds, loan funds, UCITS, money market funds, exchange traded funds, fund of funds and Sharia compliant funds. Drawing on the considerable breadth and depth of expertise not only in its asset management and investment funds group, but also in its taxation, structured finance and commercial litigation departments, the firm provides a comprehensive and professional service to its clients. The funds team at Matheson advised on the first AIFM authorisation in Europe, and the first inward AIFMD management passport into Ireland. Its practitioners are experts in alternative investment funds including AIFs 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. Matheson’s asset management group also specialises in all aspects of UCITS, including UCITS pursuing alternative or hedge fund strategies. In the past year, Matheson advised on the launch of one of the first loan originating funds in Ireland. Ireland was the first European Union mem- ber state to introduce a specific regulatory framework for loan originating investment funds in 2014 and the Central Bank of Ireland has recently introduced enhancements to the regime to broaden the range of permissi- ble activities in which loan originating qualifying investor AIFs may engage. According to the head of the team, Tara Doyle, “we differentiate ourselves from competitors and peers by adopting a client team approach, and ensuring that all of our practitioners have expertise in the alternative investment fund strategies used by our clients. The funds team views our relationship with each of our clients as a partnership, working to develop advanced solutions to enable our clients to deliver innovative products.” Tara adds, “developing our team internally is also key to ensuring that we stay at the top of the industry. The firm’s graduate recruitment and trainee development programme aims to ensure that the firm continues to attract the best talent, and that those individuals go on to fulfil their potential as lawyers and business leaders in the firm.” Committed to excellence and the calibre of its lawyers, Matheson has partnered with INSEAD and the Cambridge Business School in delivering its Partner De- velopment Programme and Senior Associate Programme respectively. Looking to possible developments in the year ahead, Shay Lydon, part- ner in the asset management group, comments, “we believe that Brexit presents major opportunities as well as challenges to Ireland. We are already working with many UK-based institutions looking to establish a presence in Ireland as part of their Brexit strategy or to expand their existing presence in Ireland. We see this trend growing in 2017 and be- yond. As the only remaining English speaking common law jurisdiction in the EU, with a similar approach to regulation, Ireland is proving to be very attractive to London-based institutions looking for a bridge into the EU in a post Brexit world.” Ireland is regarded as a key strategic location by the world’s leading asset managers. Over 800 fund managers from 55 countries have as- sets administered in Ireland. Ireland is known for its clear and practical regulatory framework, with certainty around timeframes for establishing investment funds and a pro-business government, presenting an attrac- tive international fund domicile for fund promoters. Winner of the Best Alternative Investments Law Firm award, Matheson’s primary focus is on serving the Irish legal needs of international companies and financial institutions doing business in and from Ireland. Their clients include the majority of the Fortune 100 companies, 7 of the top 10 global technology brands and over half of the world’s 50 largest banks. H 1701WF12