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 eighth year in a row. The 2019 Monterey Insight report revealed that Matheson acts for 31% of Irish domiciled investment funds by assets under management as at 30 June 2019.
Our dedicated team is comprised of over 50 fund professionals, led by 12 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 Group 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, Anne-Marie Bohan, Liam Collins, Philip Lovegrove, Oisin McClenaghan 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. The head of our team, Tara Doyle, is an elected member of the governing Council of Irish 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.
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 Group 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. Matheson partners Michael Jackson, Anne-Marie Bohan and Liam Collins have been heavily involved on the industry side with respect to the introduction of the ICAV, the new Irish bespoke funds vehicle.
With our team of 50 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 50 fund professionals in total, led by 12 partners.
- Anne-Marie Bohan
- Liam Collins
- Dualta Counihan
- Tara Doyle
- Elizabeth Grace
- Michael Jackson
- Philip Lovegrove
- Shay Lydon
- Oisin McClenaghan
- Barry O’Connor
- Donal O’Byrne
- Michelle Ridge
Matheson's Asset Management and Investment Funds Group 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, which may be downloaded below.
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.
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