E-Reporting Reveals Trends in Hedge Fund Industry
GEORGE TOWN, Grand Cayman, June 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Walkers, the global
offshore law firm of choice for investment banks, international law firms,
collateral managers, and other financial institutions, applauds the work
done by the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority (CIMA) in releasing its first
report using data gathered by its new electronic reporting system. The
Investment Statistics Digest, released earlier this week, provides an
in-depth statistical review of Cayman Islands regulated funds for 2006 with
aggregate statistics for 5,052 funds including their financial position,
structure, investment strategies, subscription activity, fund
administration, and investment management services.
"With total regulated funds passing the 9,500 mark in early 2008,
CIMA's publication of the Investment Statistics Digest for each calendar
year will provide industry stakeholders and international regulators with
the most comprehensive assessment of the offshore hedge funds industry,"
said Mark Lewis, Senior Investment Funds Partner at Walkers and a member of
CIMA's E- Reporting Working Group. "Cayman is already the clear
jurisdiction of choice for the institutional hedge fund market. The
successful introduction of E- Reporting and the meaningful flow of
industry-relevant information will continue to set Cayman apart and will
certainly continue to enhance Cayman's well-deserved reputation."
The report is based on information that CIMA has routinely required
funds to submit as part of the regulator's ongoing oversight of the
industry. However until the E-Reporting platform for funds was implemented
in March 2007, CIMA did not have the ability to aggregate the data and
report these statistics. The system has automated the submission and
processing of the Fund Annual Return (FAR) and the annual financial
statements from Cayman Islands regulated funds.
Some of the statistics that the digest revealed for the financial year
ending 31 December 2006 include the following:
-- The aggregate net asset value of the Cayman funds captured was US$1.387
trillion;
-- New York had the largest concentration of net assets held by investment
managers with US$388 billion or 28%;
-- The UK, predominantly London, had the second largest concentration of
net assets managed with a total of US$250 billion, or 18%;
-- The proportion of funds suspending trading was extremely low at 0.1%;
-- The Cayman Islands was the primary location for the provision of
administration services to the funds;
-- A master-feeder structure was used by 50% of the funds; and
-- Sixty-one percent of the funds reporting had a minimum subscription of
US$500,000 or more.
The Investment Statistics Digest is also accompanied by a list of
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), which explain in more detail how some of
the statistics appearing in the digest were compiled and collated. To read
the entire Investment Statistics Digest visit (Due to the length of the URL
please copy and paste into your browser.)
http://www.cimoney.com.ky/uploadedFiles/Publications/Investments_Statistica
l_D igest/2006STATISTICALDIGESTFINAL.pdf.
"E-Reporting has not only provided an enhanced regulatory tool but is
helping CIMA, as the regulator, to further increase the transparency of the
industry. To our knowledge, this is the first time that a regulator has
published aggregate statistics of the kind presented in the digest," Cindy
Scotland, CIMA's Managing Director, said in a statement. "It extends the
range of data available on hedge funds, not just in the Cayman Islands but
globally."
About The Walkers Group
From offices in the Cayman Islands, the British Virgin Islands, Dubai,
Hong Kong, Jersey, London, and Tokyo, the Walkers group provides legal and
management services to leading FORTUNE 100 and FTSE 100 global corporations
and financial institutions, capital markets participants, investment fund
managers, and growth- and middle-market companies.
The Walkers group is comprised of leading offshore law firm, Walkers;
fund services provider, Walkers Fund Services Limited; and SPV and
corporate services providers, Walkers SPV Limited, Walkers (Jersey)
Limited, and Walkers (BVI) Limited.
In 2006, Walkers was named as the Who's Who Legal Law Firm of the Year:
Cayman Islands, the PLC Which Lawyer? Yearbook Leading Cayman Islands Law
Firm, The Lawyer's Offshore Law Firm of the Year, and was one of two firms
honored as "Offshore Legal Team of the Year" by the Society of Trust and
Estate Practitioners (STEP).
For more information on the Walkers group, visit us on the Web at
http://www.walkersglobal.com or contact us by e-mail at
info@walkersglobal.com. To contact Walkers by phone, call our Cayman
Islands office at +345-949-0100.
SOURCE Walkers
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Related links:
http://www.walkersglobal.com
CONTACT:
Melissa Arnoff of Levick Strategic
Communications, +1-202-973-1336, +1-202-276-0070 (mobile),
marnoff@levick.com, for Walkers
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